


(finger)guns and finger-hearts

by sleepyshiba



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: AU, Action/Adventure, F/F, Multi, Murder, OT9 - Freeform, Polyamory, Violence, mafia, other girl groups may make an appearance, smut-maybe-idk yet, twice
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-06-23 06:28:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 49,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15600336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepyshiba/pseuds/sleepyshiba
Summary: a serious mafia au featuring moments of typical twice crack





	1. smoking guns and smoking suits (intro.)

**Author's Note:**

> hi, this is my first fanfic i'm writing :)  
> note: this will be poly ot9 twice fic so there will be multiple pairings, if this isn't your cup of tea then whatcha still doing here?  
> this au is inspired by Twice's outfits for their Valenti cover  
> i got twitter so hmu there if ya wanna talk about this, twice, or any other girl group  
> @sleepyshiba1

intro.

//

BANG! BANG! THUD, THUD,

“Seriously, is this all they’re capable of? This is no fun at all.”

Lowering her pair of Bren Ten pistols after taking out the guards in the room, Sana casually began to reload as if this was a regular occurrence. Well, it kinda was for her.

As Sana carried on, one of the surviving guard tried to go for a sneak attack with his dagger. After getting close enough, he raised his arm ready to strike.  
Before he could do anything else, a hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. Surprised, the guard could only recognize a female form before getting socked hard in the face.

CRACK!

Stumbling back form the blow, the guard finally registered that his jaw was dislocated. He screamed from the pain but all that came out was a garbled noise. Looking back at his attacker, the guard attempted to move forward with his dagger. Unfortunately, that didn’t help him at all.

A swift roundhouse kick to his head was delivered with enough force to throw him towards the wall. The power behind the kick effectively snapped his neck, ending the fight.

“What did I tell you about reloading after checking if all your enemies are down for good.”

Mirth in her voice, Momo said it like it wasn’t the first time this had happened.

“Well, I don’t have to if you’re always here to watch my back” Sana replied with a cheeky tone as she holstered her pistols and walked towards Momo, “Besides, it’s hot watching you fight in your suit.”

Stepping into Momo’s personal space, Sana traced her hand up Momo’s abdomen before tugging playfully on her tie. Momo chuckled as she pulled Sana closer, hips to hips.

“My my, planning to start without me?”

CLICK CLACK

Stepping into the room was Myoui Mina, head of the Myoui clan, and Sana and Momo’s boss. Surveying the room, all that remained were the fallen guards and the bloodstains surrounding them.

“Report?” Mina asked calmly, gracefully side stepping the blood puddles as she moved to where the other two were.

“All the remaining members of the Yamato clan has been dealt with.” Sana replied with amusement in her tone, “What did you do with the boss?”

“I simply reminded him to respect the conditions of our trade agreement sent by the clan alliance. Unfortunately, he refused so I made him take a very long nap. I don’t think he’ll be waking up anytime soon.” Mina answered the question with a satisfied smile on her face.

Momo and Sana couldn’t believe how their boss could be so cute while talking about murder as if she were just talking about puppies.

“Right, so the Yamato clan is basically done for now that all the clan members are wiped out.”

“Correct. You’ve both done a good job.” Mina said with warm approval in her voice, making Sana and Momo perk up at the compliment.

“Now, let’s go home so we can all take a nice and long bath in our room.” Mina, satisfied with the results of their mission, turned around and started walking towards the exit.

Looking at each other with a grin, Momo and Sana followed after Mina.

“I already called the clan for a clean-up crew, they’re at the entrance waiting for you.”

“Good.”

Exiting the Yamato clan’s headquarters, Sana and Momo flanked each side of Mina. Dozens of tinted cars surrounded the entrance of the compound. Men and women, discreetly armed and bearing the Trinity clan marking, stood on guard.

“Boss!”

“The Yamato clan is finished. Sweep the estate for evidence and take all of their assets, they won’t be needing them anymore.” Mina gave out commands and then watched as her foot soldiers carried them out.

“Let’s go.”

The trio walked to one of the cars, a standard bulletproof and tinted sedan that the clan provided. The three got in the backseat, with Mina in the middle.

“Take us back to base.”

Nodding, the driver began the drive to the Trinity Estate.

//

The Myoui clan, an old but powerful clan, is currently allied with two other clans; the Minatozaki clan and the Hirai clan.

It is said that long ago, these three clans were bounded together in every generation. Tradition told that the three clans had a permanent bond, one that would continue to exist beyond time itself. Another tradition upheld by the three clans was that the leadership of the alliance would shift to the next clan after every clan leader in a specific era retired.

As children who grew up together, the bonds of the three were cemented even before adulthood. Through the years, the three discovered that they had romantic feelings for each other but never acted on it until the day of Mina’s inheritance ceremony.

It wasn’t a surprise that when Mina became of age and ready to take on the Myoui clan title, Momo and Sana were the first of the clans to offer their services. After the elaborate ceremony and the congratulations from many of the alliance, the three retreated to a private room to talk about everything that happened (including their feelings).

That night was celebrated for many reasons.

//

The gates of the Myoui-Hirai-Minatozaki Manor opened as the nondescript car drove through, stopping at the end of the driveway. Thanking the driver, the three women got out of the car and entered the manor. Making their way to the master bedroom, they began to undress, intent on taking advantage of the master bathroom’s spacious bathtub.

“I’ll start running the bath.” Mina heads into the bathroom, leaving the two in the bedroom. Soon, the sound of running water is heard along with the sweet scent of honey and flowers.

“Ahhh, it’s so good to finally be home.” Sana let out a sigh as she tugged her tie loose.

“Tell me about it, that mission took longer than it should have because of those cowards.” Momo agreed, taking care to slip off Sana’s suit jacket with as much physical contact as she could.

“Mmhmm, we could have spent all that time cuddling.”

“Yeah? What else could we have been doing?”

A playful grin appeared on Sana’s face as she turned around and did the same to Momo’s suit jacket. Taking an extra step, Sana unbuckled Momo’s belt faster than a blink of an eye.

“It’s still impressive every time you do that.” Momo let out a giggle as she pulled Sana closer, hands gripping Sana’s hips in a firm and soft grip.

Sana merely giggles as she leans in, meeting soft lips with her own. Throwing her arms around Momo’s shoulders, she tilts her head to deepen the kiss.

Momo takes her time kissing Sana, licking into her mouth, setting a soft but intense pace. Unlike her hands, which are currently unbuttoning Sana’s white shirt. After the last button is undone, Momo pulls back slightly to take in the view in front of her. Her hands softly caress Sana’s toned abs, admiring how the lacy red color of Sana’s bra seem to match the color of her flushed cheeks.

“What a pretty sight.” Momo murmurs, cupping Sana’s cheek. Sana leans into the touch and leaves a kiss on her palm.

“Your turn.”

Sana leans forward, capturing sweet lips in between hers again as she begins undoing Momo’s button-up. Momo lets out a soft groan as she sucks on her bottom lip. After popping the shirt open, Sana snakes her hands up into Momo’s hair, eliciting a pleasant hum from Momo.

Still enraptured in her kiss with Sana, Momo doesn’t miss another set of familiar hands pulling her shirt off from behind. Mina presses into Momo’s back and she shivers at the sensation of kisses covering the back of her neck. Momo breaks the kiss with Sana and leans her head back on Mina’s shoulder, letting out a moan as Mina trails up her neck to nip at her ear.

Sana drinks in the sight of her two girlfriends, her adoration for them both practically oozing out her eyes. Mina lets her hands roam the plains of Momo’s stomach as she turns her head towards Sana. With Momo still sandwiched between them, Sana cups the back of Mina’s neck, pulling her forward to meet her lips. Momo hums contently as she watches her girlfriends lock lips, taking the time to catch her breath and to palm Sana’s bra-covered chest. Sana breaks the kiss to let out a moan at the feel of Momo’s hands, feeling heat pooling in her abdomen.

“The bath is ready.” Mina’s breathy voice sounding out in their bedroom.

At this point, Momo and Sana are just becoming aware that the only thing Mina is wearing is her white button-up. Mina heads toward the bathroom, making sure to sway her hips with every movement. As she crosses the threshold of the bathroom door, Mina looks back and slips off her shirt, leaving Momo and Sana with the sight of her gorgeous backside and a seductive smirk beckoning them with promised pleasure.

The sound of water splashing is heard.

Momo and Sana let out giggles as they strip off their remaining clothes. Sana takes Momo’s hand into hers, pulling her in the direction of Mina and their long-awaited bath.

//

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a little side note for J-Line's families here, so that it won't disrupt the flow of the chapter lol my thanks to Box for giving me that little advice 
> 
> So like, the J-Line’s parents were the previous clan heads. They’re all retired now so J-Line are the new clan leaders. After their parents retired, the leadership of the whole alliance shifted to the Myoui clan, which meant that the Minatozaki clan was the previous leader, and Hirai before that. The leadership follows a cycle; the current line-up is Myoui-Hirai-Minatozaki. 
> 
> All their parents are retired but they still live in the clan estates and help out. Each clan has their own personal estate but they built a huge estate for the girls to live in cause it’s more convenient. Basically, their teamwork together is stronger than those in previous generations. It would be more of a disadvantage to be separated.


	2. breakfast plans, part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what better way to have breakfast than to spend it with your girlfriends while planning to recruit some of the world's most infamous people?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok y'all, just a quick heads up. i don't condone violence in any type, way, or form. this is just a fictional work with fictional violence depicted in it. 
> 
> so, i split this chapter into parts cause the original is WAY long and it kinda felt like it would dilute the flow of how i wanted it to go.  
> anyways, sorry if the writing style's all weird, i was trying to write it like how i would watch an action movie  
> hope ya like it! i spent way too much time researching too many topics for this fic lol

01-1

// 

Sunlight streamed through the window curtains, enveloping the room with a soft morning glow. Two figures laid buried underneath a fluffy blanket, one spooning the other.

Eyelids slowly fluttered open to reveal a pair of brown eyes still riddled with sleep.

“Morning sleepyhead.”

Mina groggily registered the warmth at her back that just spoke as Momo. Humming in response, she noticed an empty spot in front of her.

“Sana’s downstairs cooking breakfast.” Momo said softly, answering Mina’s silent question.

Satisfied with the information, Mina merely tugged Momo’s arm around her closer.

The enticing aroma of Sana’s cooking slowly invaded the room, causing a pair of stomachs to let out some rumbles.

“Go wash up, I think Sana’s done with breakfast.” Momo chuckled at the sound of their stomachs.

Leaving Mina with a peck on her forehead, Momo left the bed to follow the delicious scent of her girlfriend’s cooking.

Stretching with a groan, Mina complied and started towards the bathroom. After washing up, she put on an old short sleeve shirt and some black shorts before heading downstairs.

 

Entering the kitchen, Mina took a seat next to Momo at the kitchen island. Food was laid out in front of them like a breakfast buffet. Placing the last pan in the sink, Sana turned to them with a wide smile on her face.

“Good morning! Food’s all ready so dig in!”

Saying their thanks first, Mina and Momo began grabbing food onto their plates. Taking a second to watch her girlfriends enjoy her cooking, Sana gave them an adorably soft smile before joining in on the eating.

Soft jazz music played from Sana’s small speaker on the counter, filling in the comfortable silence as they ate.

(Sana always had music on in the kitchen, dancing along and belting out high notes as she cooked. Her girlfriends enjoyed watching her too. Sometimes they just sat there when they weren’t busy, sometimes they joined in on her dancing and singing.)

 

“So,” Momo spoke after clearing her second plate and going for thirds, “what’s going on today?”

“We’re recruiting; We have ample resources and a number of divisions on hand but I want people who know what they’re doing without having to think about it.” Mina said, clearly with a specific goal in mind. “Like it’s second nature to them.”

“But I don’t want just anybody, I want the best of the best. And if they’re going to join us, we also need to be able to trust them and work well with them too. I don’t need a cold-blooded killer; I need like-minded individuals who can be accepted by our clan.”

Mina’s gaze turned soft as she looked between Sana and Momo. “And to accept us.”

“I had a feeling you’d say something like that.” Sana passed another plate of food to Momo, who let out a happy sound in thanks.

“That’s why I put together a list of potential candidates we could look into. There’s only six so far that meet your requirements.”

Losing count at the number of Momo’s plate, Mina turned her attention to Sana, “Who’s first on the list?”

 

//

 

_(“First up is Park Jihyo; a notorious assassin known throughout the underworld as ‘The Goddess of Death’.”_

_“Whoaaa, a Shinigami? That’s so cool.”_

_“Finish your food before you talk, Momo!”)_

 

/

 

Sicily, Italy – 11 AM.

Royal Resort – Lobby floor, dining area.

 

/

 

‘The Goddess of Death’. That’s what they called her. No one knew what she looked like, but everyone knew her name. Starting at a young age, Jihyo was trained by one of the best assassins in the world, Park Jinyoung or better known as ‘The Whispering Demon’. JYP taught her everything he knew; whether that meant lessons on how to handle weapons or hand-to-hand combat, or learning about new languages, or even on how to infiltrate buildings stealthily.

Needless to say, Jihyo was a natural. Having earned her moniker in her teenage years, she had enough skill and knowledge to take down an individual however she wanted. Need a touch of subtlety? She’ll slip in, get the deed done, and be out before anyone even notices.  Need to make it look like an accident? Nobody questions faulty wiring or outdated technology. Need something flashy to get a message out? Jihyo knows exactly how to get attention right where she wants it.

 

/

 

Dressed in a casual pantsuit, Jihyo was situated at one of the tables in the dining area. Sipping on her drink, she appeared to be scrolling through her phone. On the contrary, Jihyo was really keeping an eye on her next mark.

Her latest contract took her to Sicily, Italy to eliminate a man named Enzo De Luca. Apparently he was some cocky big-shot businessman who dipped his hands in the wrong cookie jar, and foolishly thought his wealth could protect him. Disregarding the warnings that his actions would have consequences, De Luca took some time off his work to book a vacation near the sea coast of Sicily.

Big mistake.

Noticing that her mark began moving towards the elevator, Jihyo casually got up and walked to an elevator in the opposite direction of De Luca. Not before leaving a generous tip on the table for the kind waitress.

Walking into the elevator, Jihyo pressed the button for one of the higher floors. Pulling on a pair of black leather gloves, she made sure her equipment on hand was secure with no chance of leaving behind any evidence.

DING!

As Jihyo stepped out into the hallway, she spotted De Luca to her right, entering his hotel room. Jihyo leisurely strolled over to the same door, letting a couple minutes pass as to not arouse suspicion, before taking out a couple of pins to pick the lock. In a fluid motion, Jihyo unlocked the door and slipped in with the grace of a feline.

 

/

 

Enzo De Luca was not having a good day.

That would be an understatement. First, the valet returned his Ferrari with a scratch on the bumper. After chewing the guy out, Enzo stormed off to get some breakfast only to find out that he missed the timing and they were no longer serving food at the moment.

Planning to return to his room to order room service, he stalked towards the nearest elevator with a scowl on his face.

After reaching his floor, Enzo entered his room, immediately taking off his jacket and throwing it on the back of the couch. Deciding to freshen up before getting some food, he moved towards the bathroom. Grumbling about the damage to his car, he failed to hear the almost-silent click of a lock unclicking.

Passing through the bathroom doorway, Enzo walked up to the sink and turned on the faucet. Leaning down, he cupped the streaming water in his hands and washed his face a of couple times. Done with the wash, Enzo raised his head, catching a glimpse of a shadow in the mirror. Making eye contact with a pair of brown eyes in the mirror, he didn’t recognize the woman standing behind him.

Scared out of his wits at the unexpected stranger in his room, Enzo opened his mouth and attempted to yell at the intruder before being cut off in the rudest way.

SMASH!

 

/

 

Before he could make any noise, Jihyo firmly grabbed a handful of Enzo’s hair and smashed his head into the mirror in front of them.

The mirror fractured into several pieces at the impact. Some of the glass shards slicing into Enzo’s forehead. Flecks of blood splattered onto the mirror, though most of it slide down Enzo’s face.

Pulling Enzo’s head back, Jihyo made sure he was still conscious before throwing him onto the tiled floor.

Making her way to the bathtub, Jihyo began filling it up to the brim. Painful whimpers slipped out of Enzo’s mouth, masked by the sound of running water.

“Mr. E sends his regards.”

 

Cradling his bleeding head in his hands, Enzo could do nothing but listen.

“He said he gave you plenty of warnings. Unfortunately, you disregarded them and continued supplying the drug smuggling ring using minors,”  Jihyo’s eyes hardened at the mention of minors being involved in Enzo’s work.

“And so, Mr. E contacted me. He knows I hate these kind of people the most.”

Silence. Every word from Jihyo turned the atmosphere frosty. Enzo couldn’t even believe that he was at a beach resort in southern Sicily any more.

 

“Do you know who I am?”

Opening his eyes, Enzo turned his head to the woman standing above him.

“The Goddess of Death has come to collect.”

Eyes popping wide open, Enzo’s face paled to an almost deathly shade of white. If it was even possible, just the mention of the deadly assassin’s name dropped the atmosphere to an even icier level.

“W-w-wait, y-you’re th-“ Enzo desperately begged, panicking as the looming figure turned off the water. 

 

“You know, before your death, Mr. E wanted to repay the full amount of damage you caused to him and his associates,” Jihyo interrupted him, “You’re the head of De Luca Corporations, right?”

Jihyo turned her head to Enzo, pulling her gloves tighter and then flexing her fingers.

“By the time I’m done here, Mr. E will have pulled all your investors away. While your funding drops, there will be rumors spreading regarding your ‘sketchy’ work ethics. Your company and its value will decline quickly. The public will hear of your tragic suicide here at the resort, headlines depicting your financial disaster. They’ll think you spiraled into madness and took your own life because you couldn’t handle watching the company you started be destroyed.”

Jihyo watched as Enzo grew silent, the will in his eyes getting dimmer as she finished explaining what Mr. E had in store for him.

 

“It’s time to collect.”

Incoherent sounds began falling from Enzo’s lips, fear turning his limbs stiff as Jihyo grabbed him by his shirt collar. Lifting him up, Jihyo dragged Enzo to the bathtub and proceeded to shove his head under the water.

Resisting as much as he could, Enzo flailed his arms violently. It was no use. Feeling weak from the blood loss, Enzo was no match against her. Plus, the fear coursing through his veins didn’t help much. With impressive strength, Jihyo continued to hold him down without breaking a sweat. Years of training and experience resulted in a lean and muscular body, making Enzo’s thrashing limbs feel like noodles under Jihyo’s hold.

 

Eventually, the sound of splashing ceased to be.

And so did Enzo De Luca.

 

Slowly letting go, Jihyo checked for a pulse. Seeing that there was none, she moved the rest of Enzo’s body and placed it into the tub. Jihyo rearranged the entire room to make it look like the mess was Enzo’s own doing. Satisfied with the state of the room, she made for the exit.

Stepping into the hallway once again, Jihyo left a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door. Striding to the elevator, she pulled out a burner phone. As the elevator traveled to the garage floors, Jihyo dialed a number and simply said, “Collection complete.”

DING!

The elevator doors opened and Jihyo moved forward, walking in the direction of her car. Passing a trash can, she disposed of the burner phone.

Jihyo settled into her car, a classic 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 that she got as a reward from one of her American clients. It was a sleek, midnight black color with two vertical white stripes on its hood. It was an old model but her contact managed to find two car specialists that were able to fix it. The result was like it came straight out of a dream; having the looks of a classic muscle car and the latest technology equipped in today’s cars.

 

Before leaving the garage, Jihyo checked the center console monitor for any notifications. In her peripheral, she spotted a small card laying in the cup holder. Knowing that her car had one of the best security systems, she was intrigued.

Grabbing a hold of the card, Jihyo held it up and inspected it.

Three familiar clan markings were present on the card. Along with coordinates printed on the edges.

“Huh. That’s interesting… an invitation to a private dinner.” A grin appeared on her face, curiosity and amusement swimming in her eyes.

“Looks like things are gonna get a little crazy.”

Jihyo chuckled, revving the engine a few times before taking off.

 

//

 

“Did you send her the invitation?” Mina asked after taking a sip of her watermelon juice.

“Yeah, I left it in her car.” Sana replied, eyes moving down the list in her hand.

“PFFTTT” The juice in Momo’s mouth was now on the kitchen counter. “How’d you get inside THE Goddess of Death’s CAR?!?”

“That. Was. Disgusting.” Luckily, the juice only sprayed the counter. With a sheepish grin, Momo reached for the towel nearby.

“Well, there was a gap in the window so I just threw in and hoped it landed where she could see it.”

Silence lingered in the kitchen. A confused Sana looked up meeting the incredulous stares of both her girlfriends.

“What? Why are you guys looking at me like that?”

“Incredible…” Mina murmured before taking another sip of her juice.

“How does it even- what…”  Momo mumbled, still in disbelief.

Blushing, Sana tried to change the subject. “A-anyways, the next on the list are actually a pair.”

“Oh? Two people?” Mina raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, but they’re more like a package deal. Can’t have one without the other.”

//


	3. breakfast plans, part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dahyun and Chaeyoung as street racers is a concept I can 100% get behind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday guys! here's an update to celebrate the weekend :) 
> 
> side note here: some of the events in certain chapters may have already happened or may not have happened yet. the way i write is whatever comes to mind first happens first, and then i create events and plot around them. don't worry, i'll post a lil note at the top of each chapter if the timeline is out of place 
> 
> this chapter follows the previous chapter, even tho Jihyo's took place roughly about 3-4 days ago

01-2

//

_(“Kim Dahyun, ‘Karura of the Dawn’ and Son Chaeyoung, ‘Byakko of the Dusk’; together they’re known as ‘The Night Fūri of Japan’.”_

_“Wait… so… a giant fire-breathing eagle demigod… and… a celestial white tiger?!?” Momo dramatically made hand gestures for extra effect._

_“Momo, they’re just names,” Mina giggled, “I’m sure there’s a correlation to their names, right Sana?”_

_“Yes, they’ve made really big names for themselves in the racing scene a couple years back. Word on the street is that they’re the fastest racers in the whole of Japan. I’ve also heard that they’re very hands on with experimenting new tech. They’ve made a fortune with selling their racing modifications. Apparently, they were getting bored winning all the time so they decided to sell some of their mods to keep the racing competition alive.”_

_“Sweet!” Momo exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. “No offense but the cars that our clans have now are_ so _plain and boring. Maybe they can change that!”_

_Mina and Sana both made a sound in agreement before continuing._

_“What’s interesting is that the pair have made the streets of Tokyo their main racing grounds. They’re basically in our backyard.”_

_“Hmm. That’s convenient; we could do with more connections in Tokyo seeing as we already have Osaka under our control.” Mina tilted her head, contemplating the idea of expanding towards the east with the help of the two racers._

_“Hey, ya’know what else happened when we went to gather intel?” Momo snickered, “Sana believed them when the locals said that they were summoned by the racing gods to bring them glory in Japan.”_

_“I didn’t know those locals were stupidly high on weed and car fumes!!” Sana whined as Momo was cracking up. Even Mina couldn’t hold in her laughter.)_

 

/

 

Tokyo, Japan – night time

 

The winding road of Mt. Fuji-san looked like a slithering serpent at night. Light from the street lamps and the moon above illuminated the twisting curves of the asphalt.

In the distance, screeching rubber echoed. A pair of headlights came into view around the corner of the mountain road. With ease, a 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX sped down the mountain road. Silver blue in color, the car effortlessly drifted through every curve of the road, leaving the sports car that tried to follow behind desperately in the dust.

A crowd was at the bottom of the mountain base, leaving an open space for the road. As the roar of an engine grew close, the crowd began cheering loudly.

 

Speeding through the last turn, the Lancer reached the finish line and came to a smooth stop, smoke still rising from the hot friction of the tires. The crowd let out cheers and applause, growing louder as the door opened. 

Kim Dahyun stepped out of her car just as the other racer reached the finish line.

“Looks like I won again.” Dahyun smirked at the driver before turning around and greeting the crowd. The loud cheering from the spectators only fueled her satisfied smirk.

 

As the hype from the finished race died down, the crowd parted, going back to their activities. Dahyun got back in her car and drove deeper into the racing meet-up.

It was like a mechanic’s wet dream. Numerous cars were lined up side by side in several rows. Expensive sports cars and tuned racing cars filled the space. The place was lit up by headlights and the neon glow of car interiors. Music was blasting through the area as people showed off their cars, some drivers selling mods or extra parts, others just hanging around and talking. That’s what Dahyun liked about race meet-ups, they were just big outdoor parties involving cars.

 

Reaching her group of friends, she parked and got out the car, turning to see a fist struck out in front of her.

“Nice drifting.”

Bumping the fist with her own, Dahyun grinned. “Thanks, Chaeng.”

Son Chaeyoung grinned back at her, sitting on the hood of her car, an orange and black Mazda RX7 Veilside Fortune.

“How much did we make tonight?” Dahyun leaned back on the side of her car, placing her hands in her tracksuit pants.

“A couple thousand tonight. Easy money.” Chaeyoung took out a hefty roll of cash from her hoodie pocket, handing Dahyun her share of the money.

“The ones who bet against you were new in town. The only people who bet on you were the locals and us of course.”

 

Conversation flowed easily through the group as they hung out for another hour or two.

Looking around the racing grounds, Dahyun saw that the meet-up was slowly coming to an end. It was probably sometime around 2AM but she wasn’t sure.

“Hey, you wanna go get some food?” Dahyun suggested, turning her head towards Chaeyoung.

“Sure. Our usual spot?” Chaeyoung perked up at the mention of food, quickly sliding off the hood of her car.

“You know it!” Dahyun let out an excited little shout before the two of them entered their cars and started their engines.

 

/

 

The lights of the city washed over them as Dahyun and Chaeyoung sped down the streets, the abundant glow of neon-lit signs and street lamps becoming a blur. 

Weaving in and out of traffic, they avoided other cars with ease. Taking the lead, Dahyun drove past several traffic lights before taking a sharp turn to the left, drifting past the corner. Chaeyoung smoothly followed, leaving fresh skid marks and the echo of her roaring engine behind.

After passing a few more blocks, Dahyun slowed down before turning into the ground level parking lot of a multi-level commercial building. Dahyun parked in their usual spots before opening her car door, seeing Chaeyoung do the same beside her.

 

The two walked towards the elevator of the ground floor. Stepping inside, Chaeyoung pressed the button for the 5th floor. The two hummed along to the elevator music, making silly little dance moves as it began ascending.

DING!

The elevator doors opened to reveal a small but spacious hallway. A comfy-looking couch lined the wall, a magazine stand stood next to it, making it seem like a waiting room. Going down the hall lead to a traditional Japanese sliding door. 

 

Laughing as they exited the elevator, the pair strolled down the hall, passing a big sign that hung on the wall that read: ‘Shibuya Shoyu’. 

Reaching the door first, Dahyun slid it open and the two stepped through, the smell of delicious ramen hitting their noses immediately.

 

Past the sliding door was the interior of a quaint ramen restaurant. On the left were top-to-bottom windows that replaced the wall, showcasing the picturesque night view of Shibuya, Tokyo. A column of high tables and chairs were positioned next to the windows, providing customers with an amazing view of the famous ‘Shibuya Crossing’ as they chowed down on their food.

On the right were some plush cushioned booths if people wanted a more intimate and private seating. The area in between the two consisted of low dining tables with cube ottomans as chairs, more suited for parties of four or five people.

Behind all of the seating, a mid-high bar counter sat against the furthest wall. The space behind the counter was an open kitchen, giving customers who sat there the ability to watch as their food was made right in front of them. Paper lantern-shaped lights were hung up on the ceiling, traditional Japanese décor decorated the corners, giving the restaurant a homey and warm feeling.

 

“Welcome!” A voice rang out behind the bar counter, revealing it to be the owner of the restaurant that Dahyun and Chaeyoung were regular customers of.

“Oh, Dahyun-chan, Chaeyoung-chan,” Takahashi-san, the owner and chef, greeted them. “Back for more ramen?”

Strolling to the back, Dahyun and Chaeyoung took their usual seats on the right side of the bar counter.

“You know it, can’t get enough of it!” Dahyun gave a cheerful grin at the old man as she hopped onto her barstool.

“The usual, please.” Chaeyoung took a look around the restaurant, spotting only three people sitting in one of the booths, “Not busy as usual tonight?”

“Well, it _is_ 2AM. All the normal customers already left. The only people that show up during this time are you two and some of my other regulars.” Takahashi-san turned around to gather ingredients before getting to work, “Two shoyu pork ramen coming up!”

 

Watching as old man Takahashi made their food, the sounds of cooking filled their silence. Pulling out her phone, Chaeyoung checked her notifications.

“Oh, it’s Jeongyeon unnie.”

“Hmm? What’d she say?” Dahyun asked while keeping her eyes on the ingredients being handled by a pro.

“She said thanks for running that last shipment.” Chaeyoung scrolled down on her phone, “And that some new engine mods are on the market.”

“Oh? How new?” Dahyun perked up at the information and at the sweet smell of the ramen broth.

“She said they might be prototypes.” Giving a knowing smirk, Chaeyoung already began to type out a response.

“Tell her to send it our way!” Dahyun let out an excited laugh, partly because of the idea of testing prototype mods and partly because their food was now being served.

“Here you guys go, enjoy!” Takahashi-san served up two steaming bowls of shoyu pork ramen, letting out a warm smile as the pair dug into the food with enthusiasm.

“Thanks for the food!”

 

/

 

After finishing their bowls of ramen and ordering seconds, Dahyun and Chaeyoung were sitting at the counter laughing at one of old man Takahashi’s story about his customers.

One of the women sitting at the booths got up and sauntered over to the counter.

“Excuse me, we’re ready for our check.”

 

Hearing an alluring voice, Dahyun and Chaeyoung stopped mid-laugh to look at the customer, only to lose their breathe at the sight of such a beautiful face.

“Minatozaki-san, thank you for your patronage.” Takahashi-san bowed his head lightly, after handling the transaction.

“It’s our pleasure, Takahashi-san.”

Noticing the attention from the two on her right, Sana turned towards them, giggling at their star-struck expressions.

 

“Takahashi-san, the food was amazing as always.” Momo and Mina walked up behind Sana, giving their compliments.

Dahyun and Chaeyoung were speechless when they saw Sana. Now with the addition of Momo and Mina right in front of them, they were completely dumbstruck.

Sana let out another giggle, nudging both Momo and Mina. The three said their goodbyes to Takahashi-san, and gave Dahyun and Chaeyoung a smile, before leaving the restaurant.

 

Dahyun and Chaeyoung were frozen even after the three left. Old man Takahashi chuckled at their reactions before slapping their backs to wake them up.

“Here, those three gave me this card to give to you two.” Takahashi-san handed them a business-like card.

“Huh, what are these markings?” Chaeyoung traced over the markings as Dahyun noticed the coordinates.

“ _Those_ are ancient clan markings.” Takahashi-san answered, albeit solemnly.

Taking note of his serious tone, Dahyun and Chaeyoung shared a glance, both speaking with their eyes before giving each other a nod.

“Thanks for the warning old man,” Dahyun took out some notes to pay for the bill.

“And for the food!” Chaeyoung gave him a cheeky grin, pocketing the card.

“Come back again, alright.” Old man Takahashi waved them off.

“We’ll be back!” Dahyun and Chaeyoung shoved at each other, laughing as they raced through the door.

 

/

 

The waters of Tokyo Bay splashed against the edge of the Port of Tokyo, the full moon hung above, casting glittering light into the sea. Shipping containers littered the dockside, huge overhead lights were evenly situated along the roads, illuminating the area. Down the road, a little further away from the dock, sat a row of several warehouses. The warehouse lights were on and music could be heard playing inside, even at a distance, indicating that there were people inside.

 

The inside of the warehouses were all connected, making it feel like one huge building, a very long one at that. White LED lights lined the ceiling. The warehouse was split into two main areas; one half was a garage while the other was a spacious living quarters.

The garage area consisted of high-tech machines used to tune and mod cars. Car equipment was everywhere; spanners and bolts scattered the countertops, spare tires were stacked next to a wall, the latest issues of a car magazine laid on a table. Numerous sports cars sat parked, in the middle of being tuned.

 

A woman stood behind one of the machines. It looked like a super advanced computer with a really big monitor. Charts and numbers flowed on the screen, the woman studying the figures. Cables connected to the machine trailed towards a nearby car, a 2017 Nissan GT-R Nismo to be exact. It was white in color with black carbon trim. The car had its hood open, the cables seemed to be attached to the engine, but the car was actually held mid-air by a vehicle lift.

“Ok, last test. Go for it!” With a loud voice, the woman behind the computer motioned with a thumbs up.

 

In the car sat another woman with sharp, yet soft features. Receiving the sign, she put her foot to the pedal and accelerated the car to its top speed. The roaring sound of the engine filled the garage, the numbers and charts on the computer rapidly changed in response to the car.

After a few minutes, the woman behind the monitor raised a hand in the air, signaling to stop.

Letting her foot go slowly, the car engine slowed to a halt.

Pressing a switch on the side of the computer, the car lift descended slowly. When it reached the ground, the woman got out of the car.

 

“What’s the number, Seungwan?” The woman asked as she began to remove the cables attached to her car’s engine.

Wendy, behind the computer, had her eyes shifting all over the screen.

“Top speed is in the 190 range. All three tests have similar results. Your car’s running fine, Joohyun.”

Slamming the hood close, Irene turned around with a smile on her face, “Good, as it should be.”

“Now that we’re done with all the tests, let’s go eat! Hurry, before Seulgi and Joy finish all the food!” Wendy comically rushed towards the living quarters, Irene following with a laugh.

 

Stepping into the open kitchen/living room, the two made it before all the food was eaten. Two woman were eating at the kitchen island while another was sitting on the couch, her eyes turned to Wendy and Irene as they entered.

“Done with the tests, unnies?” Yeri asked as she was munching on some snacks.

“Yes, everything’s perfect. Did you already finish eating?” Irene gave Yeri a pat on her head as she passed by. Yeri gave out an affirmative noise at the head pat.

Wendy and Irene settled down at the kitchen island, bowls and chopsticks were placed in front of them.

“I made some more cause… well, me and Joy are still hungry haha!” Seulgi gave out a sheepish expression while Joy next to her continued eating.

The four made conversation as they ate.

 

“Oh! Dahyun and Chaeyoung said they’re coming back from the meet-up. They should be here soon.” Joy told them, remembering the text she got from Chaeyoung.

A rumbling was heard, getting closer and closer by the second.

“Speak of the devil.” Yeri grinned as she got up from the couch, moving towards the garage to open it.

Yeri grabbed the metal chain and pulled it, hoisting the garage door up. Silver and orange drove through, parking similar to how the other cars were diagonally lined up. After the two were inside, Yeri pulled the chain in the opposite direction to close the garage.

 

“Yo chingu!” Dahyun and Chaeyoung came up and engaged Yeri in their usual handshake, making her laugh.

“How was the race?”

“Pssh, easy money.”

The three of them walked to the kitchen and sat down with the others. The group talked about their day, catching up on what the others did, the noise from the tv played in the background.

After a break in the conversation, Irene spoke. “So, what is it that you guys want to tell us? And don’t try to lie, it’s written all over your faces.”

Dahyun sheepishly laughed as Chaeyoung pulled out the card and placed it in the middle of the table.

 

The five looked at the card, recognizing the clan markings immediately. Seulgi stopped eating, Wendy and Joy had their eyes widened, Yeri stayed quiet, and Irene was simply waiting for the two to continue.

“We got another job offer,” Chaeyoung started, “Only this time, what they’re offering is even more dangerous than usual.”

“And it’s probably a permanent job too.” Dahyun scanned their faces trying to gauge their reactions, the five looked solemn as they processed the information.

“We totally get it if you guys want out.” Chaeyoung’s voice trailed off, leading to a short silence.

 

Irene was the one to break the silence, “You two are idiots. There’s no way we would leave you guys, after all we’ve been through. Especially when _that clan_ put this offer on the table.”

Seulgi began eating again, mirth dancing in her eyes. Joy was laughing at Dahyun and Chaeyoung, the two shocked over being called idiots.

“We already said we would stick together, ya’know,” Wendy held her chin in her hand, “That _was_ the whole point of all of us leaving Korea together.”

“And moving to Japan, living in this warehouse, and continuing to race with you guys.” Yeri simply grinned.

 

After a few moments, Dahyun and Chaeyoung finally responded.

“I love you guys!” Dahyun pinched the bridge of her nose, overexaggerating her fake crying. Chaeyoung chuckled in response, slapping Dahyun’s back. “Ow.”

“It’s settled then, the meeting is a week away.” Dahyun mentioned the date on the card.

“We’ll be right there with you.” Seulgi said, the others nodding in agreement.

 

KNOCK KNOCK!

The seven froze at the kitchen island, taken off guard with the knocking at this time.

“Helloooo? Tofu delivery?” A voice accompanied the knocking at the front door of the warehouse.

“That’s Jeongyeon unnie, no doubt.” Yeri burst into laughter.

Dahyun and Chaeyoung were laughing as they moved to open the door, revealing a woman in black specs and her blonde hair up in a short ponytail.

“Finally, what took you guys so long? Help me with these.” Jeongyeon grinned, motioning to the three large boxes stacked beside her.

“Sorry unnie, we weren’t expecting anybody at this time.”

Dahyun and Chaeyoung gave Jeongyeon a quick hug before moving the boxes inside.

“What’s inside these boxes ughh” Chaeyoung huffed as she set down a box. Dahyun groaned doing the same.

“It’s the engine prototypes I told you about!” Jeongyeon placed the box down with ease.

“Oh. Wait, that fast? I thought you were still in Korea!” Chaeyoung flailed her arms as the three walked back to the kitchen, Jeongyeon greeted the rest of their racing crew.

“I travel fast.” Jeongyeon grinned at them, before settling into a more serious expression.

“Also, I heard from a little bunny that you guys just got an offer from some serious people.”

Jeongyeon pulled out an identical looking card, sending the group into shock.

“Cause me and our little bunny were just offered the same.”

 

//

 

“What a coincidence that we bumped into them at Takahashi-san’s.”

“Mmhmm”

“They were pretty cute,” Sana giggled at the memory, “The two couldn’t close their mouths at the sight of us.”

Momo and Mina giggled in agreement.

“Who’s next on the list?”

//


	4. breakfast plans, part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> introducing 2yeon!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: a brief mention of dismemberment near the end (just a little finger, the pinkie) 
> 
> timeline wise, this chapter takes place after Jihyo's and before DubChaeng's

01-3

//

_(“Yoo Jeongyeon, ‘Fūjin, the God of Wind’, and Im Nayeon, ‘Omoikane, the God of Wisdom’; anybody who’s anybody in the underworld knows these two. Their reputation precedes them by leagues.”_

_Sana pulled out a couple of papers: there were candid headshots of Jeongyeon and Nayeon, countless lines were drawn connecting from the photos to countries and governments, to big businesses, to wealthy, affluent families, and to big players in the underworld._

_“Each of them have their own huge network, with channels spread across the globe, and their very own hand-selected teams in every major city.”_

_“Yoo Jeongyeon is a goldmine for physical resources. She’s a world class smuggler, known as the uncatchable ‘Phantom Merchant’. If you need something, no matter what/who/where it is, she’ll make it happen. That is, if you can afford her services.”_

_“Now, Im Nayeon is a whole different animal. If Jeongyeon was supplying a war, then Nayeon’s the one who most likely started it and she’ll be the one to decide the winners and the losers. No one knows how she does it, but she’s a top-notch informant; one who has plenty of information and blackmail to take down the wealthiest companies with a mere sentence or throw an entire country into turmoil and conflict with a flick of her wrist. She always gets what she wants in the end and that earned her the title, ‘The Hands of Fate’.”_

_Momo and Mina studied the papers that Sana pulled out, “I know you’re wondering what a smuggler and an informant could possibly amount to but based on the calculations of their network and the numbers of all these big-wig companies,” Sana gestured to the financial spreadsheets cluttered on the table, “they have enough power to set the world on fire and enough money to rebuild it ten times over, if they wanted to.”_

_“Ok but other than that, how did they survive this far? You don’t just get by with just smuggling and information.” Momo shuffled through the spreadsheets, eyes scanning the large figures on the financial data._

_“I was wondering the same thing, so I dug a little deeper into the two of them. Supposedly, they both built their reputations from scratch and they aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty either. They prefer to get things done themselves, even if they have loyal people working under them. With all the connections they have now, it was still a surprise when I found out that they grew up with Park Jihyo.”_

_Silence. And then the pin drops._

_“Wait, you mean-“_

_“WHAT!?!”_

_Sana burst out into laughter at Mina and Momo’s shocked expressions. As her giggles trailed off, Sana pulled out a copy of an old photo, the kind where you had to go get the film developed and printed out. The photograph showed three kids sitting close together on a bench, smiling and holding each other as they ate their popsicles. The children had features that resembled Jihyo, Jeongyeon, and Nayeon._

_“Are these who I think they are?” Momo leaned in to get a closer look._

_Mina was quiet as she studied the photo, a familiar feeling in her gut as she remembered when her, Momo, and Sana often looked the same in their childhood pictures. The proximity of the three, how big their smiles were, the shine in their eyes. It dawned on her when she flicked her eyes up to Sana and Momo._

_“If they want to tell us about themselves, they can on their own terms. Other than that, we should give them the privacy they deserve.” Mina had an inkling that the three in the photo had a very similar relationship dynamic as they did._

_A shy smile was on Mina’s face as she reached for Momo and Sana’s hands.  Momo and Sana simply grinned and laced their hands altogether, a usual occurrence whenever the three were together in private.)_

/

 

Seoul, South Korea – 9 PM

 

Nayeon could feel the bass thrumming in her chest as she leaned against the guard rail of the second floor. The music resonated throughout the club as her eyes scanned the first floor.

It was a typical Friday night; people were kicking off the start of the weekend, music and alcohol pumping through their veins as the dancefloor drew them in.

 

“Yo boss!”

An arm slung over Nayeon’s shoulders following the voice.

“What are you doing up here looking so serious for?”

Nayeon turned her head to the side to reveal a young-looking woman with cat-like eyes.

“Waiting for you dumbass, that’s what.” Nayeon simply grinned at her friend’s arrival.

“Well, I’m here now ya meanie.” Jennie pulled her into a loose headlock.

“Yah! Stop it!” Laughing, the two continued their little banter before Jennie let go of Nayeon.

“What took you so long?” Nayeon asked as they fixed their roughed-up clothes.

“Let’s continue this in the back. I’ll fill you in on what happened earlier.” Jennie nodded her head in the direction away from the balcony overlooking the club.

 

“You think anybody will figure out that this nightclub is actually one of Im Nayeon’s bases?” Jennie grinned at the thought.

Jennie took the lead as the two of them headed beyond the balcony doorway. Stepping through and into a hallway, the two proceeded further down, eventually hitting a steel door, which was out of place with the rest of the club decor.

“Probably not,” Nayeon almost let out a snort of laughter, “Anybody who comes here is either drunk, high, or looking to become one of the two.”

Nayeon lifted her hand to the keypad beside the door and scanned her right hand. The keypad beeped as a green light flashed, followed by the steel door sliding open.

 

Behind the steel door was a spacious back room. The furniture in the room was a mix of high-tech spy equipment and lounge room furniture.

As Nayeon and Jennie entered, they immediately heard a racket in the corner of the room. Alarmed by the loud sound, they both turned towards the source only to find two members of Jennie’s team violently button smashing their game controllers and screeching at the tv.

“YESSS!” “NOOO!”

The words ‘Fatality’ flashed on the tv screen was accompanied by incoherent screaming, both of joy and of sadness.

“Haha you owe me food now Lisa!” Rose cackled as she jumped up and down.

Lisa merely pouted at her loss before grinning at Rose’s enthusiasm.

 

Noticing the others in the room, Lisa turned to them and prompting Rose to do the same.

“Oh, unnies, you’re here.”

Lisa’s greeting was meet with a fit of laughter from Nayeon and Jennie.

“Did you lose another bet against Rose again?” Jennie put a hand on her hip.

“Hey, I win some of those bets too ya know!” Lisa bit back.

“Yeah but Rose always benefits whether you win or lose, so who’s the real winner here?” Jennie raised an eyebrow as Lisa huffed, Nayeon and Rose watched on, amused at the banter between them.

“Anyways, we’re here to report our latest run, remember?” Jennie ruffled Lisa’s hair before moving towards the couch in the middle of the room, the others following suite.

“So, how’d the run in Germany go? Was the information Wolf sent me accurate?” Nayeon made herself comfortable on the couch.

“Yeah, right as usual. The prototype parts were at the warehouse just like you said it would be. If you’re wondering where the other two are, Jeongyeon and Jisoo are unloading the cargo as we speak.”

“Good. Were there any complications?”

Jennie, Rose, and Lisa looked at each other before Jennie answered.

“Well… I wouldn’t exactly call it a complication, but yes.”

Nayeon raised an eyebrow, “Oh? What happened?”

 

“After we secured the parts, we hightailed it outta there. We got back to the city and took the train to Berlin, using the fake IDs and the transport passes you got us.” Jennie explained, her hands making gestures as she did so.

“The problem was when we got to the airport in Berlin,” Rose grimaced as she revisited the memory, “It was like a nightmare!”

“The airline that you got tickets from had to delay their planes because of some fuel shortage and an issue with air traffic, _and_ the local police were there too!” Rose threw her hands up, remembering her frustration at the situation.

“Mhmm, the company of those prototypes we took _are_ pretty well-known,” Lisa remarked as she rubbed her chin in thought, “It did make sense for the authorities to cover the airports that quickly.”

“And that’s where the complication came into play.” A new voice entered the conversation in a casual tone. The four turned to the new voice, Jisoo and Jeongyeon walked in through the entry way.

“Luckily, it worked out for us huh,” Jisoo had a cheeky smirk on her face, “Or else we would’ve been toast!”

 

“Yo! We bring food as offering!” Jeongyeon placed the bags of food on the table before they joined the girls on the couch. The group munched on the food as they continued talking.

“So what did you guys do?”

“We were huddled up, trying to come up with some quick ideas on how to get outta there. Right as we were brainstorming, a man in a suit came up to us.” Jeongyeon quickly placed napkins on the table in front of everyone.

“He was pretty young-looking,” Rose stated her observation before taking a bite from her burger, “and his suit looked way too nice for his age.”

“Hmm, most likely a scout then.” Nayeon deduced as she shoved some fries into her mouth.

Jennie nodded in agreement, “Only big organizations put in effort to make their ranks look sharp, something about representation and power.”

“Yeah, so he comes up to us and introduces himself – his group but not his name – and he says, _‘Seems like you’re in quite a predicament, my bosses can help you out but only if you’ll hear our offer’_.

“And since this guy came out of nowhere, naturally I said, _‘who the hell are you and how can we even trust you?’_ ” Lisa said, “Can you pass the ketchup, please?”

Jeongyeon passed the condiment to Lisa before continuing, “There was something about the way he said it, it sounded pretty serious when he mentioned his bosses. I had a good feeling in my gut too so I took him up on the offer.” She nudged Jisoo to continue. 

“After we agreed, he told us to follow him and lead us to a private section of the airport. We took one of those airport golf carts and rode it to a hanger out in the field.”

“A private jet, man!! He took us to. A. Private. JET!” Lisa threw her hands up for emphasis, “Can you believe that?!”

“Anyways, we got on the plane and he said he’d take us back to Seoul. When we landed, he gave me two cards,” Jeongyeon pulled out said cards, “He mentioned your name and said the cards were for me and you, and that his bosses would be waiting for our reply.”

 

Jeongyeon handed one of the cards to Nayeon, who took it and inspected it.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Nayeon let out a whistle as the sight of the card, “These are the symbols of a yakuza clan in Japan. Powerful ones at that.”

Placing the card on the table, Nayeon leaned back into the couch, mind working a mile a minute.

The girls gave each other a glance as Nayeon was lost in thought, knowing better than to interrupt her when she was like this.

Coming out of her headspace with a gleam in her eye, Nayeon looked at the other girls, “What do you guys think? This is clearly a recruiting offer, a rare one at that, this clan doesn’t do this normally.”

“Which clan is it?” Jisoo asked as she reached for her drink.

 

“One of the old clans of Japan; Myoui-Hirai-Minatozaki.”

There was clattering on the table as the girls were stunned at the mention of the clan name.

“HCKK-“ Lisa choked on her chicken nugget prompting Rose to smack her on the back.

“Holy shit” Jisoo dropped her jaw as well as her drink.

Jeongyeon made eye contact with the girls, “This could be huge for us, even more than now…”

Ruffling her blonde hair, she let out a huff of air, “But it also means that it’s gonna get even more dangerous, and I’m not talking about just our usual smuggle runs either.”

Jennie let out a grin, “When has that stopped us before?”

Looking at her team, no – her closest friends around the table, Jeongyeon let out a chuckle, “Yeah, you’re right.”

“So, we’re taking up their offer?” Nayeon’s eyes were sparkling as an excited smile formed on her face.

Sounds of affirmation rang around the table, the girls finally getting to finishing their food.

“Sweet!” A fist pump in the air. “I already have something in mind. We can’t come empty handed to this meeting, that would be rude.”

The girls perked up, “Another run?”

 

“Something like that,” Nayeon pulled out a photo, a headshot of a clean-cut suited man in his 30s, before throwing it on the table.

“I’ve heard some rumors of one of the ranks in the clan trying to start up some shit.”

She whipped out some more incriminating photos and some voice recordings. “Some low-rank enforcer, trying to bite off more than he can chew.”

“Oooo a hunting party? Haven’t had one of those in a while.” Lisa grinned, but Jennie interjected before anything else, “Yeah, but seeing as this is one of the oldest clans in Japan, we probably can’t just waltz in and whack the guy. Am I right?”

The girls looked back at Nayeon, who simply pulled out a tantō, an extremely sharp but short knife. It was mainly used in traditional yubitsume rituals, the cutting of one’s little finger for atonement.

“That’s right. We’re dealing with old yakuza clans here, so we should try to appeal to their traditions, seeing as we’re gonna be new additions and all.” With that said, Nayeon handed the knife to Jennie.

“In other words, we should pack up cause we’re heading for Japan,” Jeongyeon smirked, “Which reminds me, I should take those prototype parts and pay our favorite shorties a visit.”

Jisoo and Lisa had their arms slung around each other as they let out a cheer, “Tokyo, here we come!!”

 

/

 

Nayeon was sitting down on a bed, looking at a polaroid in her hand. She was just done packing her few travel necessities when the photo caught her eye.

After the meeting at the nightclub, the group moved to their main safehouse located in Seoul, to pack up their remaining belongings. Nayeon was pretty sure that this offer was going to require their presence in Japan for a good while.

“Hey, you done packing yet? The girls are almost done and they’re gonna start loading all the luggage.” Jeongyeon popped her head into the room.

“Mhmm, yeah. Just finished.”

Noticing the polaroid in Nayeon’s hand, she walked over and plopped herself down on the bed beside Nayeon. “What’s on your mind, bunny?” Jeongyeon pulled her closer, leaning Nayeon’s head onto her shoulder.

Nayeon hummed in response, “Do you think they made an offer to Jihyo too?”

“They’d be crazy not to.” Jeongyeon grinned at the picture, the three of them were at one of their favorite restaurants, celebrating their first successful run with their new team. Jihyo dropped in for the celebration after returning from one of her contracts. If she remembered correctly, it was Jennie who took the picture. “Knowing her, she’s probably already made herself comfy at the safehouse in Tokyo.”

Nayeon let out a laugh at the thought, “Ha, she’ll probably nag at us, asking what took us so long to get there.”

“I’ll just tell her you were taking too long being lovesick over her.”

“Yah!”

Jeongyeon let out peals of laughter as Nayeon shoved back onto the bed and started tickling her.

 

/

 

[a few days later]

Trinity Estate

 

Momo was sitting on the couch watching a local variety show on tv with Sana’s head in her lap.

Mina was next to them, dealing with some paperwork which was spread on the table.

It was a comfortable silence, with the tv playing in the background, when Sana spoke up.

 

“So are we gonna do anything about that guy yet?” Annoyance could be heard in Sana’s tone, “He’s so sketchy, even for a yakuza. I know he’s up to something!”

“Are you talking about that low-rank enforcer?” Momo carded her hand through Sana’s hair, an attempt to calm her down, “Don’t worry about it, he’s not worth the trouble. We have other things to worry about. Like our meeting in a few more days.”

“Still…” Sana trailed off, eyes fluttering shut at the feeling of Momo’s hand. Smiling softly, Momo leaned down to give Sana a quick kiss.

Flustered by the unexpected kiss, Sana blushed and let out a whine before burying her face in Momo’s stomach. Mina and Momo laughed at Sana, it was always fun to make Sana feel shy and flustered.

 

Footsteps could be heard reaching the living room before the door was opened by Mina’s First Lieutenant.

“Boss, a package just arrived. It’s addressed to you specifically.”

“Oh?” Mina raised an eyebrow before waving him over, “Did you check it yet? Who’s the sender?”

“Yes, boss.” He placed the package on the table, “Everything checks out, nothing dangerous. There was no information about the sender, just a black note with a pink bunny stamp on it.”

“Oh, I see.” Mina opened the package as Sana and Momo sat up, watching curiously.

The package was pretty small, inside the box revealed a small, square case and a couple photos.

After looking through the contents, Mina placed them on the table. 

“Looks like you don’t have to worry about that enforcer anymore.”

 

The small case laid opened on the table, inside the box was a white cloth covering a severed little finger. The photos beside it were of the low-ranked enforcer Sana was talking about earlier, evidence of his shady dealings, and the process of him undergoing the traditional ritual.

Mina waved her First Lieutenant over, “Store these away, I’m sure he’ll keep in line from now on.”

The First Lieutenant gave a bow before leaving to carry out the order.

“Yubitsume? Impressive, but ouch.” Momo winced at the thought.

“Heh. Serves him right.” Sana merely smirked before taking her place on Momo’s lap again. 

//

 


	5. breakfast plans, part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taiwan’s nation flower is the plum blossom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's the last main character intro! I was writing Tzuyu's character but then it turned into a motzu date lol
> 
> also a little note here, i'm sure you guys have noticed already but in case you didn't : i use / to show that either time has elapsed or the setting has changed, i also use // to show that the current scene and everything in that setting has come to an end

01-4

//

Momo poured the hot water into three tea cups, an aromatic scent began to fill the kitchen. Placing the kettle down on the countertop, she moved back to the table to serve the tea.

“So that was 4 and 5,” Mina counted down the number of individuals, “Who’s the last candidate?”

Sana placed the tea cup down after taking a sip. Looking at the list, she pulled the last remaining paper out. “Ah, this one’s a wild card. She’s the youngest out of all of them too.”

She handed the file over to Mina, “Momo’s the one who actually went to go make the offer in person.”

“Really? Why’s that?” Mina had a curious look on her face.

“Well, Chou Tzuyu’s pretty hard to find when she wants to stay hidden,” Momo grinned at the reminder, “It was pretty fun actually, like a scavenger hunt.”

 

/

_(“Chou Tzuyu. She’s built quite a formidable reputation for herself at 21 years old. Known as ‘Nurarihyon’, the supreme commander of the ‘Hyakki Yagyō’, the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.”_

_“Damn,” Momo let out a whistle, “That must be an awesome title to have. What’s this talk about a Night Parade though?”_

_“The Night Parade is an international criminal gang, and Chou Tzuyu’s the leader. They control the world’s biggest international ‘entertainment ring’; anything that involves illegal entertainment like street racing bets, gambling dens, and even fight clubs. They also deal in weapons and luxury cars, most of their customers are either extremely wealthy individuals or criminals.”_

_“That’s a cash cow right there, the net worth must be huge!”_

_“Wait… what about drugs or prostitution? Do they have a hand in on that too?”_

_Sana double-checked her files, “Well… this information says that Chou doesn’t have a hand in those activities_ directly _… But! I did find out that she does have an influence on who they sell their products to. Mostly, all she’s done is place a restriction on selling drugs and sex to minors.”_

_“Check this out,” Sana slid a photo towards the middle of the table, “The last guy who broke that rule was the only one to break it. The local police found his body floating in the city river, they said his face was caved in until it was unrecognizable. The only sign on his body was a carving of a plum blossom on his chest, which is said to be Chou’s signature mark.”_

_“She’s quite a character too; she has a versatile set of skills and is exceptionally adaptable too.”_

_“Quite a character indeed,” Mina studied a headshot of Chou Tzuyu, “A criminal with morals, huh…”_

 

/

 

Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong – 12 PM

 

The crowd was hustling and bustling when Momo touched down at Hong Kong International Airport.

Momo let out a groan as she stretched, “Whew, not bad for a 1-hour flight.”

“Oh, I should call to let them know I landed.” Momo pulled out her phone to dial Mina and Sana.

At the same time, she slung her duffle bag up on her shoulder and began walking towards the rest of the airport. The phone call picked up by the time she reached the main airport lobby.

 

“Hey! I just landed in Hong Kong.”

_“That’s nice to hear, babe. It’s only a one-hour difference between Japan and Hong Kong; it’s about 1 PM over here.”_ Sana paused on the call, Momo could hear a murmur in the background.

_“Oh! Mina said that it’s lunch time right now, so don’t forget to eat!”_

Momo grinned, loving the fact that her girlfriends are still taking care of her even though they were an entire country away.

“Alright, I won’t forget,” She got into an elevator and pressed the button for the garage floor, “Tell Mina not to overwork herself with the paperwork, and remember not to cook without supervision!”

_“Yah! That incident only happened one time!”_ Momo could picture Sana’s pout even through the phone.

Snickering to herself, Momo stepped out into the garage floor, “I’ll be heading to one of our safehouses in Hong Kong’s Central district. This trip shouldn’t take more than a week.”

_“Ok, stay safe, we’ll be here if you need anything. Love you!”_

Momo smiled into the phone, clearly hearing two voices at the end this time, “Love you guys too.”

 

Sliding the phone into her pocket, Momo walked until she reached the car that the clan had readied for when she arrived. It was just a white two-door sports car, sleek and simple.

Momo opened the car and got in, throwing her duffle bag in the passenger seat. After starting up the car, she began driving towards Central, a wealthy district in northern Hong Kong, where one of their safehouses was located.

As she drove through traffic, Momo replayed Sana’s briefing in her head.

_“The last place Chou Tzuyu was sighted at, is in Hong Kong. I don’t know what she’s doing there but this is a chance for us to make contact. Hong Kong isn’t too far from Japan and we don’t know when she’ll be leaving, so let’s act fast.”_

_“Hong Kong? Man, am I glad our parents hired all those language tutors when we were young.”_

_“One more thing, Momo. Don’t underestimate her just cause she’s younger than us. Chou is well versed in hand-to-hand combat; we figured out she has at least 3 black belts, but we still don’t know which martial arts.”_

_“3? Oh, this is gonna be fun!”_

Driving past the city’s downtown and into the residential neighborhood, Momo slowed down before parking by the curb of the block. Getting out of the car and walking to the front of the building, she punched in the code at the door and stepped in. The building appeared to be a high-class apartment complex right in the middle of the district’s packed commercial and tourism center.

Getting up to the penthouse floor, Momo dropped her duffle bag by the couch, taking a seat as well. Putting her feet up on the table, she pulled out her phone to check the time. _1 PM_.

She had some time to kill, Momo thought. Maybe she’ll go out and buy some souvenirs for her girls.

 

/

 

6 PM

 

The sun was beginning to set and the city nightlife was starting to wake up. Momo stood next to the window, a drink in hand. She had just finished eating when the city skyline caught her eye.

“Whoaaa.”

Her eyes were captivated by the view of the city and its pretty color, the lights of storefronts shone outside, even the harbor was lit up, the glare and the reflection of all the illuminations making the water in the bay shine.

Now that the sun was down, she could head out and start looking. The night time brought out certain individuals and Momo was sure they were the type to have information on who she was looking for.

 

Momo headed out into the city, choosing to walk instead of driving, the destination she had in mind was close by.

She walked down the street, passing by a shopping plaza populated by tourists. Mingling with the crowd, Momo continued walking until she hit an area filled with restaurants and bars.

Down the street, turn the corner, up the set of stairs hidden by the alleyway, take a right, and here you are. Recounting the directions took her to a hole-in-the-wall bar. It was a little out of the way of prying eyes but a little digging told her this was one of the locations that Chou Tzuyu frequented. The sign above the door read ‘The Sleeping Dragon’.

 

Pushing the door open, Momo stepped inside. The smell of alcohol and bar food greeted her. Looking around she saw an average amount of people, not too big but not too small of a crowd either. Although she did take a mental note at the rowdy group of men in the corner, they looked drunk out of their minds.

Momo took a seat at the bar, the bartender coming over as she did so.

“What can I get you?”

“I’ll take the house special.”

A glass of mixed alcohol was settled in front of her. Taking a sip, a swirl of fruitiness assaulted her taste buds.  Momo nodded her approval at the drink, the bartender let out a smile at her response.

“Is there anything else I can get you?”

“I’m looking for a person, actually.”

The bartender took a glass and started to wipe it, motioning for Momo to continue.

“Do you know where I can find Chou Tzuyu?”

The bar didn’t get silent but it was audibly quieter than when Momo stepped in. She made a mental note at the fact that the name drop was the cause.

The bartender kept a poker face, “What do you want with Chou?”

Maintaining eye contact, she said, “I’m not looking for trouble. I just have an offer for her.”

The door swung open, the bartender flicking his eyes over, “Looks like you can stop looking for her.”

 

Another person took a seat next to her at the bar, prompting her to look over. It was a young woman she recognized, Chou Tzuyu at last.

Tzuyu greeted the bartender, “The usual, please.”

She took a drink out of the glass in front of her before turning to Momo, eyes swimming with amusement.

“So, I heard you were looking for me. And that you came with an offer too?”

Momo definitely recognized Tzuyu from the photo Sana gave her. She knew that Tzuyu was pretty but it still didn’t prepare her for this level of beauty in the flesh. So of course, it took her a moment to reply.

“Ah, yes,” Momo pulled a card out before laying it on the bar counter in front of Tzuyu.

“My… _associates_ and I have an offer for you. We would have made contact earlier but you’re adept at staying out of sight. As expected from one who carries the title ‘Nurarihyon’.”

Tzuyu took the card offered to her, eyes tracing over the clan markings on the card.

“Well well well, it’s not every day I get a personal meeting with one of the infamous ‘Twin Kyūbi no Kitsune’,” Giving Momo a smirk, Tzuyu continued, “Let’s take this somewhere more private. I can’t say I’m not interested after someone as reputable as you took all this effort to track me down.”

Getting up from her seat, Tzuyu looked over to the bartender, “Put these drinks on my tab. I’ll be back another day.”

Momo got up to follow, the two of them headed towards the door before a voice stopped them in their tracks.

 

“Hold it! I’ve been waiting all day for you, Chou Tzuyu.”

It was one of the drunken men from the group Momo noticed in the corner. He stepped towards them, his rowdy friends getting up behind him, “I want my money back!”

Tzuyu gave him a look and groaned as she recognized him. Momo looked back in confusion, “Who’s that?”

Giving a short laugh at the question, Tzuyu answered, “He always loses his money to me when it’s gambling night in the back.” Tzuyu simply pointed to the back door of the bar, “This happens once a week, he never learns.”

Directing her attention back at the unruly group, Tzuyu smirked and gave a waving gesture, “Come and get it if you want it so bad.”

 

Enraged at the baiting, the drunk man charged at Tzuyu, letting out a bellow. He threw a sluggish punch at her, Tzuyu merely sidestepped, before grabbing the man’s arm and proceeded to flip him. Using the momentum behind his drunken punch and his weight, she threw him on top of a table. Unfortunately, the table couldn’t handle the force and collapsed, the man laid groaning in pain.

At the sound of the crash, the other men in the group also decided to come running at Tzuyu. One of the men was getting close to Tzuyu, who still had her attention on the man on the floor. Before he could do anything, a fist collided with his face, knocking him down to the floor hard, a heavy thud sounded as he landed.

Drawing her hand back, Momo kept her fists up. Turning to Tzuyu with a grin, “It’s been a while since I was in a bar fight.”

Tzuyu grinned back at her before leaping into the fray, throwing rapid punches at the closest drunk in front of her until he was knocked down.

Momo turned to her side and ducked a punch, she sprung up and kneed him in the gut. He bent over in pain, giving Momo the chance to slam her elbow down on his back, making him kiss the ground.

After punching in a guy’s face, Tzuyu jump-kicked the next one, laughing as she did. When she landed, one of the drunks managed to grab and hold her from the back, immobilizing her arms. Another drunk was rushing at her from the front, his fist coming at her.

With her arms being held from behind, Tzuyu high-kicked the guy in front of her and used his chest as a springboard to flip out of the arm hold. Landing behind him, Tzuyu grabbed the guy’s head and slammed it into the guy she kicked. Groans of pain were heard as the two fell to a heap on the floor.

A few guys remained standing, Tzuyu took note. A man engaged her, Tzuyu dodged his punches before tightening her fist and delivering a powerful uppercut, sending the man flying into another drunk.

Momo roundhouse kicked a dude in the head before knocking him down with an axe kick, taking care of the last of the group.

 

Pants from Tzuyu and Momo could be heard, as well as sounds of pain coming from the drunks sprawled on the floor. Only a couple of tables and chairs were broken.

“Can I put this on your tab too?” The bartender was still wiping the glass in his hands, looking like he had been through these bar fights on a regular basis.

Tzuyu looked at the bartender, laughing as she did so, “Yeah, you can put this on my tab too.”

With a wide grin, Tzuyu took Momo’s hand and pulled her out the door, “C’mon, let’s get outta here.”

The two of them ran down the street hand in hand, laughing as they did. After a good distance, they slowed down. Still laughing, the two of them looked at each other.

“Hey, are you hungry by any chance?” Tzuyu asked Momo, big smiles still on their faces.

 

/

 

Tzuyu took her to Central Harborfront, a waterfront promenade located by Central district, where the harborfront faced the waters of Victoria Harbor. They walked through the space, numerous food stalls were set up on the path, with seating areas nearby for customers. At the edge of the harbor were lit up fountains, a little water show on display.

“This place has some great street food, you’ll love it.” Tzuyu dragged Momo along to the food stalls.

“C’mon, it’s my treat for helping me out in that fight.” She grinned as she paid the vendor.

 

Momo and Tzuyu munched on their food as they sat down and watched the water jets shoot out shapes in an orchestrated fashion.

“So, your offer. Basically, you want me to join your clan, right?”

“Yes, that’s the gist of it. What do you think?”

Tzuyu took a moment before answering, “Hmmm. I am interested, but I’ll consider it on one condition.”

“Oh? What’s this condition of yours?” Momo was intrigued, she kept her eyes on Tzuyu.

With a large grin on her face, Tzuyu turned her eyes from the water fountains to Momo. “I’m in Hong Kong cause I wanted to see the Mid-Autumn Festival, it’s tomorrow night. If you join me, I’ll take you up on your offer.”

Momo gaped at Tzuyu. A date?!? All she had to do to get _the_ Chou Tzuyu to join her clan was to go on a date with her?! Momo blushed as she finally processed Tzuyu’s deal.

Tzuyu giggled at Momo’s expression, “So I’ll take that as a yes?”

Momo could only nod, no words could come to her.

“Here, I’ll give you my number,” Tzuyu stuck her hand out, “It’ll be crowded cause of the festival. Let’s meet here tomorrow night.”

Momo wordlessly handed her phone over, Tzuyu took it and inputted her number before giving it back. “I sent myself a text so I have your number too.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow night.” With a cheeky grin, Tzuyu leaned forward to place a kiss on Momo’s cheek. Pulling back, she giggled, “You’re cute when you blush.”

Momo’s face turned red as Tzuyu left, waving goodbye into the night.

Momo continued to sit there, a dazed smile on her face. The water fountain continued on with its water show, Momo swore she saw the water making heart shapes at her.

 

/

 

The next night – 8 PM

 

Tzuyu was at the same spot she was yesterday, the only difference was that it was tightly packed with people here for the Mid-Autumn Festival. She loved going to festivals; the lively atmosphere, the delicious food, the cool events, what wasn’t there to love?

“You were right, it’s so crowded tonight.”

A familiar voice appeared next to her. Tzuyu turned and brightened up when she saw Momo.

“You’re here!” The lilt in her voice gave away Tzuyu’s excitement.

Momo giggled, how could she not at Tzuyu’s cute little face, it reminded her of an excited puppy, “I wouldn’t miss a date with a goddess.”

Tzuyu could feel a blush overtaking her face, “C’mon, the festival’s just getting started.”

 

Tzuyu and Momo strolled side by side, chit-chatting until they reached the main festival area.

Festive was an understatement; there were fireworks, lively music in the background, numerous stands stationed all over the place. Most notable of all was a group of dancers in costume, each dancer carried a pole that was connected to sections of a large flexible dragon figure over their head.

Her eyes lit up at the sight, dragging Momo closer to the scene, “Oh, you’ll love this! It’s the Fire Dragon Dance.” Tzuyu pulled Momo closer by her shoulder, until Momo was tucked into Tzuyu’s side. The noise of the crowd and the dancing was too loud, so Tzuyu leaned closer to Momo to continue, “There’s actual fire that breathes out of the dragon’s head!”

Momo couldn’t tell what she enjoyed more; the incredible performance by the dancers or Tzuyu’s embrace.

 

The traditional music playing was accompanied by a team of Tanggu drummers. The dancers moved in synchronized movements, simulating a dragon dancing moving along to the beat of the drum. It looked like the dragon was dancing in an undulating manner, spiraling and flying around the area. The drum beat grew quicker, the dancers picking up speed as they added acrobatic moves, making the dragon’s body twist and turn on itself.

As the beat played faster and faster, the dragon moved in a wave-like pattern, some of the dancers began to stand on each other’s legs, making the dragon look as if it was ascending to the sky. The pace of the drums was fast, only coming to a stop as the dance reached its climax, fire breathing out of the dragon’s mouth as it stood high in the air.

The crowd clapped in awe of the scene, the bright fire illuminated the shine of the dragon figure and the costumes of the dancers in the night.

“That was amazing!” Momo clapped along with the crowd.

Tzuyu grinned before grabbing Momo’s hand and moving further into the crowd, “C’mon! There’s so much more to see!”

 

/

 

As the festival dragged into the night, the atmosphere grew brighter and the people were more energetic. The lights along the harborfront were lit up now that it was dark enough. 

After the Fire Dragon Dance, Tzuyu took Momo to see the rest of the festival. They ate food from the street vendors and won prizes at the game booths.

Now they were sitting down on a bench near the edge of the water, facing the water fountains once again.

An excited murmur broke through the crowd, spreading throughout the festival grounds. Momo looked around in confusion before turning to Tzuyu, “What’s going on?”

Tzuyu looked around before remembering, “Oh! It’s time for the lantern event, it happens near the end of the night when it’s darker. This is my favorite part!”

She pointed to the area in front of them, “When the festival is nearing its end, a thousand paper lanterns get released into the bay of Victoria Harbor. It’s an amazing view; other than the city skyline, the paper lanterns are the only light source against the inky night sky.”

 

“Look, it’s starting!”

Both of them faced forward again as the glow of the paper lanterns were released into the bay. Some lanterns floated atop the water while some slowly floated upwards, having a similar appearance as stars rising to the sky. The crowd was in awe, taking pictures of the sight in front of them.

Momo and Tzuyu sat close together, both growing quiet as they were captivated by the breathtaking view.

“It’s beautiful.” Momo let out a content sigh, the luminosity of the sky reflecting in her eyes.

Tzuyu turned to stare at Momo, her breath caught in her throat when she saw her, “Yeah, it is.”

Noticing Tzuyu’s stare on her, Momo turned to look back.

 

The two of them locked eyes, now noticing their close proximity to each other but not moving an inch.

The tension was palpable between them, the two still gazing into each other’s eyes.

Tzuyu made the first move, her heart hammering in her chest as she moved closer inch by inch. Momo tilted her head a little, moving closer until the distance between them was gone.

Soft lips meet hers, an indescribable heat blossomed in her chest. Tzuyu loved the feeling of Momo’s mouth molding with her own, she cupped her cheek, drawing Momo into a deeper kiss.

Momo let out a small noise as she got drawn in deeper, holding onto Tzuyu’s shoulder. They continued kissing, the lanterns shining in the background.

The two broke for air after a while, breaths heavy. Shy smiles were on their faces, replaying what just happened.

“So if I join your clan, will I get another date?” Tzuyu asks, the smile on her face was from ear-to-ear.

“You’ll just have to find out.” Momo giggled as the same smile overtook her face.

The festival was still going on around them, the lanterns still captivating its viewers, but the two of them could hardly pay attention to anything else but each other.

 

/

 

Sana and Mina were waiting at a private terminal at Kansai International Airport. It had been a few days since Momo left, they received a message saying that contact was made and successful.

“Where is she?” Sana asked as she looked at the big screen showing arrival and departure times.

“Her flight just touched down, she’s probably getting off now.” Mina scanned the gate, “Oh, there she is!”

Momo walked out of the arrival gate, eyes immediately drawn to her girlfriends. She ran to them with a big smile on her face, dropping her duffle bag at their feet, she scooped them both up in her arms, giving a bear hug. “I missed my girls!”

Sana and Mina burst into giggles, still being held up by Momo.

Momo finally put them down on their feet, giving them each a kiss before picking up her bag.

Sana held Momo’s hand as Mina grabbed the other.

“How was the trip?” Mina asked as she began walking them to their car waiting by the curbside.

Momo smirked, “Oh, I have so much to tell you guys.”

 

//

 

“And that’s everyone on the list.” Sana put down the last of the files back on the table.

“Mhmm, so when’s the meeting?” Momo munched on some fruit as she looked to Mina.

Mina was looking at the files of each person, considering their locations, how many people were coming, the statistics and all, etc. etc.

“In a couple days, we should let them get acquainted with the landscape of Japan before we jump straight to business.”

The light from the open kitchen window filtered in, a light airy breeze accompanied it. The three girls sat in a comfortable silence, relaxing as much as they could. They knew that after the meeting, it would be chaos, whether it be good or bad.

//


	6. of road trips and japanese train trips (en route.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DubChaeng and their racing crew are on the way to Osaka 
> 
> at the same time, 2yeon and their team land in Tokyo and get a little surprise 
> 
> Nayeon gets some intel that hints at a brewing storm on the horizon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay! it's the weekend! :D here's an update to celebrate 
> 
> how's my writing by the way? any confusion? i'd like to clear it up if there is any

02-1

//

The Warehouse, Port of Tokyo – 12 PM, Afternoon

Two Days before the Meeting

 

This was not the scene Joy was expecting when she walked into the room.

She found Dahyun and Chaeyoung sprawled on the couch, looking like their souls left their body, and Yeri on the floor, laughing so hard you could see the tears coming out her eyes.

“What happened to you guys??”

The confusion in Joy’s voice was clear as a bell. Yeri tried to stop laughing but she burst into giggles when she saw the look on Dahyun and Chaeyoung’s faces again.

 

Gasping for breath, Yeri tried to explain the situation to Joy.

“Remember when they told us about the cute girls they met at the ramen shop?”

Joy nodded her head, remembering when it came up as the seven of them ate dinner. “What about it?”

“Well, I tried to figure out who the girls were, and you won’t believe what I found out,” The grin on Yeri’s face grew until it split her face.

“Turns out, the girls they met are actually our future bosses! And they didn’t do anything but drop their jaws!”

Yeri couldn’t take it anymore, falling to the floor as she cackled at the coincidental meeting.

“Holy shit, you guys met the _‘Twin Kyūbi no Kitsune’_ and the _‘Black Swan’_ and couldn’t recognize them?!?”

Joy joined Yeri on the floor, laughing at the two.

At least Chaeyoung could find humor in the situation, “We’re such useless gays.”

Dahyun spluttered out a laugh, shoving Chaeyoung back on the couch.

 

/

 

“This is some quality stuff right here.”

Seulgi remarked as she went over the details of the prototype parts Jeongyeon delivered.

“You think so?” Wendy was looking over some documents on the computer monitor, skimming over the list of new requests that their clients brought in.

“Yeah, these could shave off a couple seconds on one of our runs.” Seulgi set the parts down, turning over to Wendy, “Pair these with that brake system we just acquired and you got yourself a nice boost in performance. Should improve the handling too.”

“Hmm, we should test that out soon.”

 

Seulgi nodded, giving herself a mental reminder to do so, before turning towards Irene by the countertops.

“Unnie, how’s it going?”

Irene was typing on her phone, “So far, so good. Good thing Osaka’s not too far from Tokyo. Our boys are cleaning up the warehouse down there as we speak.”

“Man, I can’t wait to get back to Osaka! The bike scene is still going strong from what I hear.” Seulgi’s face lit up as she mentioned motorcycles.

Dahyun walked into the garage, “Did someone mention bikes?”

“Just Seulgi raving about motorcycles again.”

“Niceeee.” Dahyun drawled out the word as she fist bumped Seulgi.

 

“Anyways, I just came to check on the moving process.” Dahyun moved closer to where Irene sat atop the counter, “Any problems?”

“No, not a thing,” Irene scanned her phone again, “Our team is prepping the warehouse, all of the equipment we need should be installed by the time we get to the main city of Osaka.”

“The truck with all of our belongings should reach the warehouse in a couple hours,” Wendy checked her watch, “Good thing we started moving this morning.”

“Ughh, I’m glad we got that out of the way but why did the movers have to come so early today.”

Irene chuckled at Seulgi’s whining, “Nobody had a problem with it except you and Yeri.”

 

“The warehouse here should now be empty; the only thing remaining here is us and our cars.” Irene set down her phone, satisfied with the progress.

“Sweet!” Dahyun bobbed her head up and down, “We should head out later. For now, let’s go get some lunch.”

Seulgi instantly perked up, “Yes! Lunch sounds awesome right now.”

She got up and made a beeline for the kitchen, Wendy followed after shaking her head.

“C’mon Boss,” Irene swung her arm around Dahyun’s shoulder and marched them to the kitchen, “We’ll head out after eating. Osaka may be our neighbor but it’s still a good 6-hour drive away.”

 

/

 

(Still two days before the Meeting)

 

It was a cool evening, maybe around 4 PM-ish, the sun still up in the sky. The seven of them gathered in the garage, making last-minute checks and adjustments.

Chaeyoung loaded her duffle bag in the truck of her car before slamming it shut. Turning around, she glanced over the area.

 

Irene and Wendy were over by the mechanic benches, where a map of regional Japan sat. Probably looking over the roads we’re gonna be driving through, Chaeyoung thought.  

Overhearing them proved her right, “So if we take this road here, we should get there just as the clock hits them double digits.”

“Unnie, stop trying to sound cool and just say 10 PM.”

A smack resounded out, Wendy’s laughter following suit.

 

Chaeyoung chuckled, looking for the rest of her crew. She spotted Joy and Yeri loading their bags into their cars. They were dancing crazily along to the music playing from Joy’s car while they did so.

Dahyun came through the door, carrying an armful of snacks, her face scrunched in concentration as she tried to make it to her car without spilling any.

 

“We’re a bunch of goofballs.”

Chaeyoung heard Seulgi’s laugh before she saw her. Seulgi was by her side, a box filled with snacks and water bottles by her feet.

Seulgi handed her a couple items from the box, “Here, take some. Irene unnie is planning a couple of pit stops so we can get some proper food, but in the meantime, a couple of snacks won’t hurt.”

“Thanks, unnie!” Chaeyoung smiled, her dimple coming out to play. Her smile stretched further when Seulgi patted her head and shot her signature eye-smile in response.

 

The music grew louder prompting the two to look at the source.

Joy and Yeri were done loading their stuff and apparently that escalated their crazy dancing cause the two of them were now dancing on top of their cars.

“Yah! Get off your car, we just put in that body kit!”

Irene’s yell must have startled them, seeing as the two almost stumbled off the car hood.

“ROAD TRIIIIIPP WOOOO!” Yeri waved a towel in the air as she and Joy stayed up dancing for a couple more seconds.

 

After the two ~~boogied~~ got down, the crew gathered around a table.

“Ok, I already set up the GPS directions so we’re all good to go.” Wendy waved her phone.

Irene pointed to the map on the table, “It’s a 6-hour drive to Osaka. We have some pit stops too so don’t worry.”

“Remember, if anything comes up, flash your headlights three times.” Seulgi gently reminded them.

Dahyun glanced around, checking if they were forgetting anything else. “Alright guys, let’s head out!”

“WOOO ROOAAD TRIP!”

 

The team split up and headed to their respective vehicles.

Dahyun was situated in her silver blue Mitsubishi Lancer, and Chaeyoung in her orange Mazda RX7 Veilside Fortune. The two of them drove out the garage first and waited outside.

Irene hopped into her white Nissan GT-R Nismo, started her engine and rolled the windows down, before following the two out.

Joy strolled over to her car, a 2017 Nissan 370Z Nismo. Its body color a smooth white, with a matching Spec-V body kit. Alongside the side skirts was a single thin red racing stripe, the red decal the only color to mark the white body. Revving her engine, Joy drove outside.

Yeri followed after in her car, or as she called it, her baby. It was a cherry red 1973 KPGC110 GT-R. Sure, it was an older model of a Nissan Skyline GT-R, but Yeri fell in love with it when she first saw it. After successfully bidding it at a vintage car auction that Wendy took her to, she spent all her time off restoring it to its former glory.

Wendy was loading Seulgi’s box of snacks in her car, a 1999 Nissan Skyline GT-R R34. It was a deep blue color, opposed to Yeri’s cherry red. As you can see, Yeri was influenced by Wendy’s choice in cars. The car was an old model but it was equipped with Wendy’s own custom mods, making sure that its age wasn’t a negative factor in her performance.

Seulgi was the last one to leave, she had to make sure to turn off all the power in the warehouse. As she made a last sweep of the garage, Seulgi grabbed her full-face motorcycle helmet off the table. She wore the helmet as she straddled her bike, a metallic black 2019 Kawasaki Ninja H2. There were some decals on the body, she and Chaeyoung had designed it themselves.

 

Making her way out on her bike, Seulgi stopped by the keypad to set the alarm and close the garage door. Once it was set, she drove up to the others waiting nearby.

“Alarm’s set up, power’s off, everything is secured.” Seulgi spoke into her built-in communicator in her helmet, receiving various responses in turn.

“Alright Alriiightt~”

“Let’s get this party started!”

“ROAD TRIIPP WOOOOOO”

“I made a playlist just for this.”

“I hope I survive this 6-hour trip with you guys.”

With a laugh, Seulgi took off down the road first, six cars racing behind her.

Their destination, Osaka.

 

//

 

Tokyo, Japan – Some time between midnight and dawn

(Still two days before the Meeting)

 

After arriving in Japan at Haneda International Airport, the gang decided to split up temporarily. Jeongyeon set off to Tokyo Port to make a delivery, while Nayeon and the others decided to head to a nearby restaurant to wait for Jeongyeon.

When Jeongyeon arrived, they spent a good amount of time eating.

After paying the bill, the group were now headed to their Tokyo safehouse.

They arrived in front of an apartment complex, it was minimalistic in design while still having a homey feel to it.

“Finally, a place where I can lay down.” Lisa stretched her arms overhead.

“Ditto, let’s get inside.” Jeongyeon began walking to the front door.

 

The group made their way through the lobby and up the elevator to the top floor, which was where the safehouse was located. Instead of multiple units, the top floor consisted of one big apartment unit.

Nayeon had the floor built specially so that her teams could use it as a safehouse without worrying about civilian neighbors or potential security threats.

As the elevator doors opened, they stepped out into the main floor.

Jeongyeon immediately noticed that the interior lights were on. She tensed and held her hand up in a fist.

The others saw the signal and kept silent, placing their bags down on the ground slowly and quietly.

 

Jennie and Rose pulled out their pistols, a Beretta 8000 Cougar F pistol and a Glock 17 pistol respectively. Jisoo had her FNP-9 pistol out and ready. Lisa slowly slid out her pistol from the back of her pants, a Kimber Custom TLE II. Nayeon simply pulled out her Heckler & Koch USP Match pistol that was tucked away in her boots.

Jeongyeon pulled out her matching Heckler & Koch USP Match pistol, it was a gift from Jihyo to the two of them. She made another hand motion for them to follow after her.

Slowly, Jeongyeon moved forward as she stuck to the wall. The others doing the same as they made their way down the entrance hall, which opened up to the living room further down.

 

As they neared the corner of the hall and the living room, Jeongyeon signaled a countdown with her hand.

Three.

Two.

One.

The team sprung into action, Jeongyeon and Nayeon maneuvered around the corner and into the living room, Jisoo and Lisa spread out, and Rose and Jennie followed behind, taking aim to back them up.

In the living room, the flat screen tv was on. The couch was in front of them unoccupied. The recliner was on the right of it, situated between the couch and the wall-mounted tv.

 

It sat occupied by none other than Park Jihyo.

“Finally! What took you guys so long?” Jihyo threw some popcorn in her mouth, “I watched two movies back to back and I still finished them before you guys got here!”

The entire group let out a sigh of relief as they relaxed.

Nayeon felt like she had aged a couple years, “Yah! Why didn’t you tell us that you were already here?”

“Surprise?” Jihyo let out a sheepish expression.

Jeongyeon laughed in relief, “I told you she’d be here before us.”

Jihyo greeted the group warmly with hugs, it had been a few months since she last saw them.

 

“Sit down and take a load off,” Jihyo waved them over to the couch, “I picked up some take-out before I got here.”

Everyone relaxed their tense forms, food taking over their priorities. They weren’t in a rush or anything, unpacking can take place later.

“How was your flight?”

Nayeon grunted as she flopped down onto the couch, “It was quick, seeing as we were just in Seoul.”

“I took a power nap!”

 

The group was in the middle of eating and watching the local tv station. Nayeon nudged Jeongyeon to ask their awaited question.

Jeongyeon cleared her throat briefly, “Hey, so… what brings you to Japan anyways?”

Nayeon, for the sake of her curiosity, added in, “And how did you know we were going to be here tonight?”

Jihyo cheekily showed off her pearly white teeth, “C’mon, I’ve known you guys for years! It’s not hard to put two and two together, especially when we all received an invitation from one of the world’s most notorious organizations.”

She pulled out her own card, the clan markings on it the exact same as theirs.

Nayeon let out a sigh of relief as Jeongyeon grinned, “See? What’d I tell ya, no way the three of us are getting left out of this offer.”

“It’s two days until the meeting. We should prepare ourselves first and then head there together.”

“We’ll take the Shinkansen (Japanese Bullet Train) to our Osaka safehouse in the morning,” Nayeon looked over in the direction of Jennie, Jisoo, Rose, and Lisa.

“I want you girls to stay there in the meantime, at least until we figure out the terms of this offer.”

The girls let out affirmatives before getting back to eating.

Jihyo kicked back in her seat, hands behind her head, “Until then, we’ve got plenty of time to rest.”

 

/

 

Tokyo Station – the next morning

(1 Day before the Meeting)

 

The din of Tokyo Station wasn’t as loud as it usually was, most likely because it was still early in the morning, around 7 AM to be exact. The station wasn’t quiet but it was still a soft and comfortable atmosphere, the commuters reveling in the gentle morning calm before it hit rush hour.

A yawn broke through, coming from Jisoo who was leaning her head on Jennie.

“Why are we here so early?”

Jennie tilted her head towards Jisoo, “We’re taking the Hikari train so it’ll take about 3 hours to reach Shin-Osaka Station. That should be enough time for you to get in a quick nap.”

The four of them were standing in an open circle, waiting for their train to arrive. They were dressed casually, mostly in hoodies and sweatpants. The cool morning air nipped at them, but it was still refreshing.

“Yo!”

Jeongyeon and Lisa came up to the circle, carrying a bag of what looked like bottles.

“We got some drinks for ya,” Lisa started passing out the water bottles.

“Thanks, the train should be here soon.”

Just as Jihyo grabbed ahold of a bottle, a rush of air brushed by her, signaling the arrival of the Tokaido Shinkansen.

“Looks like it’s right on time, let’s go!”

With that, the girls began boarding the train.

 

The interior of the train was surprisingly spacious and had a cozy feel to it, considering that it was a bullet train with a capable speed of about 300 km/h (186 m/h). The seats were plush and soft, with each row having two seats on one side of the aisle and a single seat on the other side.

The girls were seated near the front of the train, right next to an exit.

(Nayeon liked having access to a clear exit at all times, just in case.) 

“Breakfast should be served soon, you guys can rest afterwards.”

Nayeon pulled out her phone, fingers flying over her screen as she checked in on her global network, eyes skimming over the influx of data.

Jeongyeon was on her laptop, going over her list of smuggling runs. Jennie was sitting next to her, busy contacting the clients of said smuggling runs, collecting payments and making deals as Jeongyeon fed her the information.

As they got to work, the rest of the girls were doing the complete opposite. Jihyo, Rose, and Lisa shared the same row of seats. They were admiring the passing view, taking pictures of the scenic city and of each other while chatting.

 

After the girls finished the breakfast provided by the train staff, they fell into a brief sleep. Time passed as the train traveled towards Osaka.

The girls woke up one by one as the train was nearing the station. Right on cue, an announcement came on, stating that the train will be arriving in approximately five minutes.

They began gathering their belongings, the train slowing down and pulling into Shin-Osaka Station by the time they were done.

Disembarking the train, the girls stepped out and into the station. It was more crowded than what they experienced at Tokyo Station, most likely because it was 10 AM and more people were awake and out at this time. 

“I ordered a taxi while the train was pulling in.” Jihyo tapped on her phone, “We should head to the curb out front.”

As the girls piled into their designated taxi, Nayeon gave the driver the directions, the taxi driver nodding as he began the drive.

 

Arriving in a city area, the taxi parked in front of a seven-story commercial building. The building’s ground floor was a lobby that was also connected to a café. The other floors above were of various establishments, some residential and some commercial. It was still morning so there was a decent amount of people lounging inside the café.

Nayeon led the girls inside and up the stairs to the 3rd floor. She walked over to the closest unit to her right and entered the code on the door. She swung the door open, revealing the inside to be a spacious flat.

“There’s about three bedrooms and two bathrooms. I remodeled the kitchen into an open space so that it connects with the living room.”

The girls shuffled inside, settling their bags down.

“Oh, and I made sure that the living room had extra space so that you guys could set up shop here. Do all your nerd stuff here, heh.” Nayeon waggled her eyebrows.

In turn, Jeongyeon jokingly shoved her.

 

Instead of a tv and some furniture that would normally be found in a living room, a server of computers replaced it. With monitors lined up on the wall, the desktops connected to them were set up on the long line of tables, with rolling desk chairs sat in front of each computer.

Other than the computers, there were a couple of couches on the other side of the living room, set up so that it faced the computers and the kitchen.

Jeongyeon went over to the den and turned on the system, the monitors blinking awake as data started streaming in.

“I’ve tapped into our network here, the data that our agents have been collecting here in Osaka is already coming in.”

Jennie leaned on one of the desk chairs, eyes sweeping the monitors rapidly.

Jisoo settled down on the kitchen island barstools, Rose was rummaging through the pantry, looking for snacks. Jihyo went to check out the rest of the studio apartment.

Lisa flopped onto the couch with a big sigh, Nayeon joining her, “Find anything interesting?”

Jeongyeon was sifting through the data, “Looks like we got more information about the Three Clans.”

She swiveled around in the chair to face the girls, “That should help us a lot since we have close to nothing on them, other than the fact that they’re big players here.”

“So we’re the away players on their home turf.” Lisa leaned back on the couch.

“Hmm, more like players transferring.” Jihyo corrected, stepping into the living room from the hallway.

“Oh?” Jennie started typing on the keyboard, something in the data stream catching her eye.

“Hey Boss, check this out,” Jennie called out to Jeongyeon who swiveled her chair back around.

“What’s up?”

“Have you heard of somebody named Nakanishi Kuma?”

 

At the name, Nayeon shot up out of her seat on the couch.

“Shit,” Nayeon cursed under her breathe as she marched over to where Jennie and Jeongyeon were.

“Yeah, I’ve heard of the name before.” Nayeon paused as she looked over the data.

“He’s one of the Four Bridge Guardians, one of the lieutenants of the Masked Oni, a rising gang here in Osaka.”

“If I remember correctly, he’s the North Bridge Guardian.”

Jeongyeon pulled in some more bits of data, “Looks like that gang is encroaching on territory that’s not theirs, like the Three Clans for example. They also managed to absorb the lesser-known gangs into their ranks, including their previous territories.”

Jihyo soon approached the monitors, looking at the territories that were taken over, “At this rate, a turf war is gonna break out soon, judging from the recent take-overs here and here.”

She pointed at several areas on the monitor, “If this pattern continues, there’ll be blood in the water.”

Nayeon crossed her arms as she analyzed the data on the monitors.

“Jennie, when the three of us are at the meeting, I want you and Rose to continue monitoring the activities of this gang. Lisa, while those two are busy with that, take Jisoo with you to secure some more weapons and medical supplies. Our safehouse here isn’t as stocked as the one back in Tokyo.”

 As Nayeon rattled off orders, a grim expression set upon her face, “When there’s blood in the water, there’ll be sharks coming.”

“Now the question is, who’s blood?”

 

//

 


	7. the universe decides it really likes the number 9 (a fated meeting.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DubChaeng run into some trouble, what's new
> 
> The nine are finally gathered together 
> 
> Everything that Mina does is trickled down to these words:  
> “I want power, I need power. That’s what it takes to protect what’s mine.”
> 
> Also, Sana just bought some bath bombs :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 3rd Anniversary ONCE & TWICE!!  
> <3<3<3

02-2

//

Kansai International Airport

Day of the Meeting

 

It was mid-afternoon when a plane from Hong Kong arrived at Kansai International Airport. A slim figure stepped off, a backpack hanging off her shoulder. The figure wore a comfy looking shirt underneath a leather jacket, casual jeans, and a pair of motorcycle boots.

“Wow, the view here’s great!”

Tzuyu stood in front of some glass windows by her flight gate, taking in the view of the busy city.

A sound came from her Bluetooth ear piece, an incoming call signaling. Tzuyu answered it, “Chou here.”

_“Hey Tzu, touched down in Osaka yet?”_

“Yeah, just landed a few moments ago actually. Did you get the request I made?” Tzuyu casually walked down the stairs that led to the ground floor.

_“Ah yes, we managed to ship it over with no problem. It should be on the airport ground floor, parking space 09-A.”_

She reached the ground floor, walking to the mentioned parking space, “Yeah, I see it. It’s right in front of me.”

_“Nice choice, Tzu! That one’s a classic.”_

Tzuyu secured her arms through the backpack straps before straddling a vintage motorcycle, a 1972 Yamaha XS650 to be exact. The leather seat still in good condition, the body paint a nice dark red with white stripes, and the chrome parts of the bike were shining as if they were recently polished.

“Thanks Jackson, I’ll keep in touch if I need anything else. For some reason, I have a feeling I’ll be contacting you more often.”

_“Hahaha, you always had a way of finding trouble, even when you weren’t looking for it. Alright boss, take it easy!”_

She ended the call and revved the bike a couple times before taking off, having already memorized the coordinates from the card she got from Momo.

 

/

 

A motorcycle sped down the road, traveling past the city limits and into the suburbs. Tzuyu slowed down a bit as she entered a neighborhood filled with large estates.

The coordinates on her GPS grew closer as she raced down the street, until it began beeping rapidly as she neared a particular residence.

Tzuyu stopped in front of a very large estate, the coordinates that beeped on her GPS matched the description on her card.

 

Getting closer to the front gate, Tzuyu had to stop and marvel at the residence. The gate of the driveway appeared to be high-quality steel, the design on them included the symbols of the Three Clans. The manor was impressive in stature. From outside the gates, she could only see the long spacious driveway that led up to the mansion. There was even a fountain by the driveway! The architecture was a mix of modern and traditional styling, a blending that paired well with the garden flora.

Tzuyu shook her head, remembering what she was here for. She spotted a security camera with an intercom near the gate. Naturally, she pressed it.

The intercom crackled in response, a voice spoke.

_“We’ve been expecting you. To verify your identification, please present the invitation that was given to you.”_

_Invitation? Oh!_

She pulled out her card from her jacket inside pocket and held it up to the camera next to the intercom.

_“Thank you for your cooperation.”_

After a moment, the front gates began to open. Tzuyu drove up the driveway, rounding the fountain, and stopping in front of the mansion. She parked the bike there and got off, noticing that there was a suited man waiting by the front doors.

 

Tzuyu approached him and the man bowed before speaking, “Chou Tzuyu, welcome. If you would please follow me, I’ll lead you to the meeting room.”

She nodded before following him, making sure to pay close attention to the interior. Once inside, Tzuyu noticed that there were stairs leading to the second floor on both sides of the foyer, most likely the bedrooms. The guard led her straight past the stairs and into the main living room, she saw a peek of the kitchen from an open doorway to the left. From there, they took a right turn down the hall.

After passing a couple doors, the guard stopped in front of a pair of double doors. Turning to Tzuyu, he addressed her, “This is where the meeting is taking place, please wait inside.”

He opened the door and waited, Tzuyu stepped inside, the door closing behind her. She took a moment to observe the room, which was actually pretty spacious.

 

There was fancy décor all over the room, from the walls and window curtains, to the rug on the polished wood floor. Between the large windows on the left wall was a small coffee table, a little bonsai plant sat delicately on it. Right next to the plant was a daishō – a katana long-sword and its matching tantō –  mounted on a display stand.

She had a feeling it was there for more than just decoration.

The right wall was bare except for a countertop display. The countertop was a sleek marble, the display under it was glass, inside contained various liquor bottles and glasses.

Turning to the middle of the room, there were nine square-shaped leather lounge chairs. There were three in a row by the far end of the room, facing the doors. The chairs were positioned in a way that looked over the room. She assumed that they were reserved for the heads of each clan.

Tzuyu stood between the doors and the three chairs on the far end of the room. The remaining chairs were on both sides of her; three seats on each side with small end-tables between them, they were placed so that the occupants would face the other row of chairs.

 

Tzuyu walked over and sat down on the chair closest to the door on the right side. Sinking into the seat, she let out a sigh, confirming what she thought: the leather felt as expensive as it looked, just like the rest of the room.

She let out another sigh, hoping the others wouldn’t take too long to arrive.

 

//

 

Air was puffing out of her mouth as her legs kept on pumping, Dahyun risked a look backwards to see Chaeyoung right behind her. 

“Are they still after us?”

The duo were running in the streets of Osaka, being chased by what looked like three men in all black suits and red masks.

“Yup,” Chaeyoung said, “Maybe we should take a detour.”

“Call!”

With a grin, Dahyun kept running before taking a sharp turn into the alley on her right. Chaeyoung continued on down the street.

The three goons came to a sudden halt, “You two go after her. I’ll get the girl in the alley.”

They split up, two after Chaeyoung and one turning into the alley.

 

As the man chased after Dahyun, he stopped at the sight in front of him, “What the…”

The alley turned out to be a dead end, but that didn’t stop Dahyun. She was climbing up a pipe on the side of a building. With a huff, she hauled herself up onto the rooftop.

“Haha! Try getting on my level!”

Dahyun shouted with glee as she sprinted away in quick strides, leaping over rooftop after rooftop and disappearing from view.

_Good thing that these buildings were all clumped together or I would have been a goner._

Frustrated, the man quickly backed out of the alley and joined the other guys chasing after Chaeyoung.

 

 _What idiots_ , Chaeyoung thought as she dashed down the street, dodging people and street signs.

_They don’t even notice that we’re running them in circles._

She pushed on, rounding the block until she turned into the same alley that Dahyun was in before. This time, Chaeyoung made no move to escape the dead end.

The three men quickly came up behind her, each breathing hard.

“Hah…hah…now we’ve… got you… cornered.”

Chaeyoung turned around with a feral grin, not even breaking a sweat or breathing heavy. “You sure about that?”

Hearing steps coming up behind them, the men turned their heads to catch sight of Dahyun walking towards them, cracking her knuckles.

Dahyun smacked her fist into her other hand a few times, “Now are you gonna tell us why you were tailing us or are we gonna have to do this the hard way?”

 

With a sneer, one of the goons charged at Chaeyoung. She stood still as he rushed forward, only sidestepping when he got close enough so that she could redirect his fist into the wall behind her.

His fist made contact with the wall with a sickening crunch.

“Ooo, that’s gotta hurt.” Chaeyoung voice laced thick with sarcasm and faux sympathy.

Chaeyoung threw back her arm before landing a mean right hook into the guy’s face, knocking him out instantly. As he fell to the ground, the red mask on his face cracked into a spider-web-like pattern from the strength of her punch.

She held her fists up and turned to the other two goons, “Who’s next?”

 

The two men each faced Dahyun and Chaeyoung before engaging.

Chaeyoung ran to the man for momentum and delivered a flying-knee-kick, her knee striking him in the chin and snapping his head back. He staggered backwards, disorientated.

She lifted her right knee up, repeatedly striking the man’s knee caps and thighs until his legs crumpled under him. Before he hit the floor, Chaeyoung axe-kicked him, slamming him into the concrete beneath them.

 

At the same time that Chaeyoung charged forward, Dahyun assumed a Muay Thai stance, elbows up and hopping from one foot to the other. She and the man circled each other before the man lunged for her.

Dahyun dodged it and came up behind him, repeatedly smashing her elbow diagonally-downwards into the back of his head.  He let out harsh grunts of pain, out like a light on the ground.

Dahyun looked over to see Chaeyoung with her foot perched on the man’s prone figure, feral grin still in place.

 

“C’mon, Tiger,” Dahyun began rifling through the man’s pockets, “Let’s see if we can find something on these guys.”

Chaeyoung took several deep breathes, adrenaline still pumping through her veins, she kept her eyes on the goons as Dahyun looked for anything to clue them in.

“Hey, I got something!”

In Dahyun’s hand was a card; it was black with a two red symbols engraved on it, an oni mask and the Japanese character for ‘west’.

“What is it with the criminals here and business cards, seriously?”

Chaeyoung snickered, “Hang onto that, maybe Nayeon unnie knows something about this symbol.”

Dahyun nodded, pocketing the card into her track pants.

 

“Hey dweebs! Where are you guys, you’re gonna be late for the meeting!”

A voice sounded out, coming from Chaeyoung and Dahyun’s in-ear communicators.

“Oh shi –“

“Sorry Yeri, we got sidetracked by some goons.”

Dahyun and Chaeyoung ran out of the alley, their legs taking them to where Dahyun parked her car nearby.

“Goons?”

“You guys alright?” Yeri and Joy said at the same time.

 

Dahyun unlocked her Lancer remotely and opened the driver’s door, Chaeyoung slid across the hood before getting in the passenger seat.

“Yeah, no sweat at all,” Dahyun quickly shifted gears, taking off down the road.

“Never mind that, what’s our ETA?” Chaeyoung asked, scanning the passing scenery.

“The meeting place isn’t too far from where you’re at. Looks like it’s about 25 minutes away.” Yeri’s voice came in through the car’s center console, the GPS lighting up as she sent the coordinates over.

“What if I gun it?” Dahyun mischievously smirked as she looked over to Chaeyoung.

“I’ll time you,” Chaeyoung pulled out her phone, a roguish grin dancing on her face.

 

/

 

Tires screeched as Dahyun sharply turned, the numbers on the speedometer rising as she shot down the empty street like a bullet.

“We’re close.”

Chaeyoung remarked as she eyed the GPS, “About a mile left.”

Dahyun hummed in response, her right hand was on the clutch, fingers tapping in anticipation. As she neared the blip on her GPS, Dahyun quickly shifted gears and pulled the clutch. She turned the steering wheel smoothly, foot pressing down on the pedal, and effortlessly drifted to a stop at the front gates of an estate.

Chaeyoung checked her phone and called out, “15 minutes flat! You shaved down 10 whole minutes!”

Dahyun let out a loud whoop, an ecstatic smile etched on her face.

 

“Alright, back to business,” Chaeyoung’s laughter trailed off, pointing to the intercom at the front gate.

Rolling down her window, Dahyun pressed the button. A beep sounded out before a voice spoke.

_“Hello. Please present your invitation at the camera for verification.”_

Dahyun did as she was asked, the front gates promptly opening soon after.

They went up the driveway and parked next to a motorcycle. Chaeyoung admired the bike as the two stepped out.

“Hey, isn’t that a vintage model?” Chaeyoung nudged Dahyun who nodded, her eyes also fixated on the motorcycle.

Dahyun worked with a lot of bikes, sure. But for some reason, this model was very familiar to her, she couldn’t remember why though.

 

The front double-doors opened, a man in a suit stepping out to greet the duo.

“We’ve been expecting you.” He bowed at them, DubChaeng bowed back.

“Please follow me, I’ll take you to the meeting room.”

The suit turned around, leading them into the mansion.

“Hey, you don’t think we’re underdressed for this meeting, do you?”

Chaeyoung nudged Dahyun as they followed the guard in. Dahyun looked down at their outfits; tracksuit pants and casual t-shirts.

“Nah, it’ll be fine. We’re street racing mechanics, not office workers.” Dahyun shook her head.

 

Shortly after, they arrived at a set of double doors. The guard opened the door and gestured for them to go in.

Dahyun and Chaeyoung stepped inside the conference room, eyes wandering around the room until they both spotted a lone figure sitting in one of the leather chairs.

“Hey, is that…?”

“Tzuyu?!”

DubChaeng shouted out simultaneously, the sitting figure jumped in response.

“Dubu! Chaeng!” Tzuyu bounded over to the two, engulfing them in a hug when she got close.

She pulled back with a quizzical look, “Did you guys get invited too?”

Dahyun flashed their card and nodded. Chaeyoung asked, “When did you get here?”

“Oh,” Tzuyu blinked, “I got here like 15 minutes ago.”

 

Tzuyu scanned Dahyun and Chaeyoung’s figures, “It’s been a while since I last saw you two.”

She smirked, “Looks like you guys haven’t changed at all. Literally.”

“Pfft, says the chick wearing a leather jacket in this hot ass weather.”

“Hey! I was riding a motorcycle alright!”

Dahyun perked up, “Ah! No wonder that bike outside looked so familiar, it’s the same one you rode when we visited you in Taiwan, right?”

Tzuyu nodded, “Yup! Good times.”

 

“Anyways, how’s Sowon unnie and her team doing?” Chaeyoung asked.

“She’s fine last time I heard, which was yesterday afternoon,” Tzuyu replied, “They’re undercover right now; some rich politician paid us a huge sum to retrieve some stolen artifact over in London.”

“You guys know how I work,” Tzuyu shrugged, “No contact once they land near the mission’s objective. Less suspicion that way, no trail to follow back.”

 

The sound of multiple footsteps drew near, Dahyun tilted her head, “I think we have company incoming.”

The double doors of the conference room opened up, the same guard came into view, along with Nayeon, Jeongyeon, and Jihyo.

“Unnies! You guys made it!” Dahyun called out to greet them as Chaeyoung smiled and waved.

Tzuyu’s eyes sweep over the figures of the new arrivals, appreciating their casual appearance – matching black varsity jackets, white shirts, and jeans.

She patted Chaeyoung’s shoulder and whispered, “Hey, you guys know them?”

At Chaeyoung’s nod, she continued, “They’re pretty hot. Mind introducing me?”

Chaeyoung’s mouth dropped open before she began giggling, “Sure, bud. C’mon.”

Tzuyu grinned as she and Chaeyoung walked over to join Dahyun and the others.

 

Nayeon, Jeongyeon, and Jihyo looked over as they got closer.

“Unnies, this is my friend Tzuyu.” Chaeyoung introduced, “We met a few years ago when me and Dahyun were touring Taiwan.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Tzuyu bowed slightly, the others returning the gesture with friendly smiles.

Jeongyeon perked up, “Wait, you don’t mean those five months where you two were running cargo all over the east coast of China, do you?”

“Ah yeah,” Dahyun nodded excitedly, “We met up with Tzu for a couple trades and turns out, we work together pretty well!

Chaeyoung laughed, “Yeah, a couple simple cargo runs turned into five months of the three of us exploring China’s east coast.”

 

While the group was chitchatting, the previous guard came back in to announce, “If you would kindly take your seats, the meeting will begin shortly.”

The girls sat down in the leather chairs; on the right side was DubChaeTzu with Tzuyu’s seat closest to the door, on the left was NaJeongHyo with Jihyo’s seat closest to the door.

The doors were left open, the guard standing outside faced the hallway. The sound of footsteps approaching echoed down the open hall.

In walked Mina, following behind her was Sana and Momo, their strides comfortable and oozing with confidence. The girls all stood up as the trio walked up to the seats at the end of the room, sitting back down only when Mina waved them to.

The guard closed the doors, leaving the room in a surprisingly, comfortable silence. Everybody was silent, quietly observing each person in the room.

 

Tzuyu made eye contact with Momo and flashed her a smile, getting a genuine smile in return. Tzuyu took another look around the room before anyone started speaking. She gazed at each person, studying them and matching their reputations with their faces.

To say she was excited was an understatement; for whatever reason, Tzuyu felt the synergy between each person occupying the room.

_Damn, if I can feel this much chemistry just sitting down, imagine what we could do together as an actual team._

 

Mina cleared her throat before speaking. Sana and Momo kept their eyes on the members in front of them, expressions solemn.

“Thank you all for coming to this meeting.” Mina started out, “It must have been quite difficult, especially regarding some of your reputations.”

Mina glanced around before continuing.

“Now I know you’re all wondering, why did I gather some of the world’s most infamous criminals here?”

A brief pause.

“Some of you might have already guessed it. This is a recruiting offer.”

Mina motioned for Sana to continue next.

“This is a one-time offer extended to everyone in this room,” Sana stated, “We’ve looked into all of your characters, your backgrounds, any past dealings and achievements, the works.”

“To say the least, all of you are the only people we want to join us. We believe that you all will be essential in the growth of our clan.”

The three sat still, giving the occupants in the room a chance to process their words.

 

At this point, Tzuyu was already set in accepting their offer. She could feel that her buddies, Dahyun and Chaeyoung, were going to join too.

Tzuyu looked over to the other three sitting across from her, trying to gauge their reactions. From their body language, it felt like they were all on the same page as her.

Still, Tzuyu felt like there was something else missing, but she couldn’t put her finger on what.

 

Jihyo spoke up, attracting all the attention in the room. She looked at Mina and said, “What would we get out of joining your clan? It’s not like you could offer us money, power, or fame, any more than what we already have now.”

Mina stared into her eyes, Jihyo felt an electric-like shudder throughout her body at the eye contact but suppressed it from showing.

Mina continued staring at Jihyo, contemplating over her words. “You’re right. It’s not like I can offer you what you already have.”

“What I _can_ offer you is a safe haven.” Mina broke their staring contest to meet the eyes of the other girls, hoping that they understand what she’s trying to say.

Her voice was soft yet unwavering, delivering the words she firmly believed in.

“Somewhere you can feel safe, at ease with yourself and with others, without the need to look over your shoulder at every second. Our clan can give you all something more permanent than just a one-and-done contract job.”

Mina paused again to gather her words.

 “Our clan is one of the oldest in this land, it’s true. But it’s power has been stagnant; we’ve been sticking to the same territory over the past decades, neither growing or declining. I’m going to change that. I’ll climb my way up to the top of the food chain, by tooth and nail if I have to, until our clan is untouchable, so that no one will think twice at the mention of our names.”

“That’s also the reason why I’m doing all of this,” Mina gestured with her hands, waving in a general direction of the room, “Why I chose this life of crime, not just because it’s been handed down to me by blood.”

Her gaze turned to steel, her eyes displaying her true emotions as she spoke.

 “I want power, I need power. That’s what it takes to protect what’s mine.”

Mina’s eyes traveled back to Jihyo’s again, “The choice to join is yours.”

 

Nayeon’s hand found Jeongyeon’s discreetly, lacing their fingers together. While Mina was speaking, she noticed the way Sana and Momo looked fondly at Mina.

_Well shit, looks like we’re not the only ones after all. She wants strength, not for pride, but to protect them._

 

It was like they were all on the brink, waiting to see what kind of character Mina really was behind her title, what she was really after. And then Mina’s words resonated through them, sealing the deal.

Jihyo leaned back in her seat, satisfied with Mina’s choice of words. She gave Mina a nod, as if agreeing with her wholeheartedly.

_I didn’t expect to have anything in common with the head of a yakuza clan. I guess we’re more similar than I thought._

 

_That was it, that was what was missing._

Tzuyu’s eyes flickered across the room again, taking note of everyone’s expression, before landing back on Mina.

_I know a leader when I see one._

 

“Well, what do you guys say?” Momo asked them, “You in?”

The girls unanimously said yes, taking the offer.

“Great!” Mina’s gummy smile appeared, her previous leader persona washing away.

“As of today, you guys are now part of our clans. It’ll take some time before you’re all officially inducted into the clan ranks.”

Dahyun raised her hand, speaking up, “What happens now?”

“We don’t have anything else planned for today,” Sana tilted her head, “Right?”

“Right,” Momo nodded to confirm, “Now that you’re in the clan, you guys are free to stay here at the estate if you want. There’s plenty of rooms available.”

“This meeting is finished. We’ll have another tomorrow, to talk more about clan related topics. We’ll contact you guys if anything comes up.”

Mina stood up as she finished talking, walking out of the room and leaving the double doors wide open. Sana was beaming as she and Momo followed after. Momo winked at Tzuyu as she walked past, leaving a cheeky grin on her face.

 

The others stood up as the three were leaving the room. Tzuyu looked over to Chaeyoung and Dahyun, “What are you guys gonna do? I was planning on staying here for the night.”

“Us too!” Dahyun exclaimed, “Since we have some free time, we thought we’d take the chance to explore this huge place. You in?”

“Hell yeah!” Tzuyu high-fived Chaeyoung and Dahyun.

“Oh!” Chaeyoung’s eyes widened, she nudged Dahyun next to her, “I just remembered, we should show Nayeon unnie the card we found.”

“Ah, you’re right!”

“Card?” Tzuyu tilted her head.

“No worries, we’ll fill you in too. C’mon.”

The three sauntered over to the unnie line.

“Yo, Bunny-chan!” Dahyun teasingly called out. Jeongyeon almost snorted at the name while Jihyo just laughed out loud.

“Yes Dubu?” Nayeon answered with an amused tone.

Dahyun and Chaeyoung filled in the others on what happened to them on the way to the meeting.

“So yeah,” Dahyun pulled out the card she took from the goons, “You recognize this?”

Nayeon took the card into her hands, examining the engravings.

“Yeah, I do actually. It’s the mark of a local gang. I’ve been keeping an eye on them, feels like we’re going to make contact soon too. Do you mind if I hold onto this?”

DubChaeng shook their heads, prompting Nayeon to take a picture of the card with her phone, “I’m sending this to Jennie, she’s gathering data on the gang at the moment. This mark should help speed up the process of identifying their members, so thanks.”

Chaeyoung snorted, “It’s not like they’ll be hard to miss. They were all wearing red masks, most of them have the same tattoos on some part of their bodies. I guess it’s like a gang member thing.”

 

“Will you guys be staying the night here?” Tzuyu asked.

“Yeah, feels like it’ll be easier that way. Plus, our safehouse isn’t too far from here actually.”

“Oh! Our warehouse is nearby too, how convenient!”

“Anyways, we’re off to explore. See ya later!” With that, Dahyun grabbed Chaeyoung and Tzuyu’s hands, the three of them running out the door.

The remaining three stood together before Jihyo spoke.

“C’mon, we should go see what this huge mansion holds.”

 

/

 

“No freaking way!”

Tzuyu’s jaw dropped at the sight while Dahyun and Chaeyoung’s heads were turning all over the place.

As the three were exploring, they stepped into a room a couple of doors down the hall of the conference room. If Tzuyu had to guess, she’d say that the room was about the size of half a basketball court.

The sound of a mini waterfall wasn’t as loud as Tzuyu thought it would be, she found the sound to be quite soothing actually. Other than a small square zen garden near the bank of the mini waterfall on the far side of the room, the rest of the floor was patched with indoor grass.

She suspected that this room was a meditation room, what with how calming the atmosphere in here was.

Chaeyoung was laying down on the grass, spread eagle. Her eyes were closed, a blissful smile on her face.

“Oh my gosh, I never knew fake grass could be so soft.”

Tzuyu grinned, eyes flying over to where Dahyun was. She was standing casually on one of the rocks by the mini waterfall, examining the patterns of the sand in the rock garden.

Dahyun looked back over to them with a wide smile, “Chaeng! This is like one of your hipster dreams come true!”

Tzuyu burst into laughter as Chaeyoung quickly got up and threw her shoe at Dahyun.

 

/

 

“Whoa, this is amazing!”

Jeongyeon exclaimed as she, Nayeon, and Jihyo stood on the tiled floor of the backyard patio.

The three were greeted at the sight of the spacious backyard. Other than the rolling green hills and the lovely colorful flower garden, the pool area captivated their eyes.

The pool was a large rectangle, bordered and lined with white marble. The pool water was a calm blue which contrasted against the stone fireplace to its right. There were cushioned seats around the circular fire pit, which was fitted into the ground so that it appeared lower than the patio floor.

Jihyo took a seat by the fireplace, sinking into the cushions.

“Are you sure we’re still in Japan and not a fancy, expensive vacation house?”

Nayeon stood still, still awestruck by the beautiful view.

Jeongyeon noticed and smirked, “I can always throw you into the pool if you’re still in disbelief.”

Jihyo laughed at the comment, knowing that Jeongyeon would jump in to help her immediately after pushing Nayeon into the pool. After taking pictures, of course.

“Yah!”

“W-wait, that’s my neck!”

Jihyo only laughed harder.

 

// 

 

After the meeting concluded, Mina, Sana, and Momo retreated to their shared room. Mostly to get out of their suits and into some casual clothing. Sure, the suits were appealing but Mina would rather much be in some shorts and a t-shirt.

Mina let out a sigh as she loosened her tie. She felt relieved now that the meeting was over and all the girls accepted their offer. The meeting made her anxious, mostly on how the girls would reply. She didn’t know what she would do if any of them refused the offer. Mina couldn’t explain it now but there was something she felt about the six girls, something special that was worth figuring out.

She sat down on the bed as she unbuttoned her dress shirt, tossing her tie as well. Mina let out a small groan as hands worked on her shoulders, she leaned back into the touch as the tension slowly left her body.

“You did great, Minari. Take a load off your shoulders.” Sana giggled at her joke as her hands continued massaging.

“Your speech was charming. Now relax a little, baby.” Momo leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Mina’s forehead.

“I’m going to start preparing dinner. It’s better to start now since we have more mouths to feed. Take a nap or something.”

Momo gave Mina and Sana each a chaste peck on the lips, before heading to the kitchen downstairs.

“Come take a relaxing bath with me. We can cuddle and watch your favorite shows until Momo’s done cooking.”

Mina groaned, “That sounds amazing.”

Anytime Mina or Momo was stressing out, she’d run a bath for them to relax and then do their favorite activities together. For Momo, it was mostly cooking and experimenting with new dishes. Mina’s was either watching movies or playing games. It was Sana’s little way of taking care of her girlfriends and making sure that they actually rest.

Sana hummed a little tune as she took Mina’s hand into hers, leading them to the bathroom.

Sana was in a great mood; she was excited with the new addition to their clan but mostly cause she couldn’t wait to try out the new bath bombs she just bought.

 

//

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kept going over this chapter cause I was stuck on writing the meeting part, I wanted to put some meaning behind the offer  
> things are kicking into gear now that the six are working with misamo 
> 
> also, if you didn't catch onto the little snippets of conversation, GFriend and GOT7 are members of Tzuyu's Night Parade :)


	8. sneaky sneak times and chaeng's mini cooking class (Kuma of the north, part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the girls begin dealing with the Masked Oni gang  
> first up is the North Bridge Guardian, Nakanishiki Kuma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! it's been a while since i updated, mainly cause of school and work  
> other than that, it's because i died from twice's yes or yes trailer  
> i mean, did you guys SEE those moves!?!  
> lol anyways i was also busy writing this chapter, hope you guys enjoy! 
> 
> note: i changed the estate name to Trinity Estate, cause of J-Trinity lol get it?  
> also 2yeon's base is called The Lab, and dubchaeng's base is called The Pit 
> 
> HAPPY HALLOWEEN! HAVE FUN AND STAY SAFE

03-1

//

Trinity Estate – sometime around 6AM

(A day after the meeting)

 

The dull roar of the waterfall was the only constant in the otherwise silent room. It helped in keeping her mind clear, allowing herself to focus on nothing but her sword katas.

Momo stood in the middle of the grassy floor, katana held firmly in her hands as her feet were in a wide and balanced stance. She was clad in nothing but a black sports bra and fitting track shorts. Her hair was up in a ponytail as to not get in the way. Sweat dripped down her body, evidence of how long she had been practicing.

 

Momo breathed in as she adjusted her grip on her katana, deciding to go through another kata to finish up.

She raised the katana up overhead, before swinging it down. Her left arm directed the swing towards a more diagonal path, imagining cutting down an enemy in front of her, slicing from the left shoulder to the right side of the waist.

She took a step forward, continuing the previous strike with a horizontal slash across her imaginary foe’s torso.

Momo brought her sword back to her side, lowering it and extending it towards her right leg. She made a heavy uppercut swing, the power behind it meant for knocking down an enemy.

Her arms kept her sword up on her left side, elbows up to guard her face, her feet in a defensive stance after the strike.

She repeated the strikes a couple more times, alternating left and right to ensure her katas were balanced.

 

Momo let out ragged breathes as she stood still after making a final swing, basking in the feeling of physical exertion. Slowly, her form relaxed as she slid her katana back into its sheath that was tied by her waist.

She stretched just a bit to relax her muscles, her arms were a little sore but in a good way. The kind that felt rewarding whenever she finished her katas.

Momo grabbed her towel that she left on the nearby stone bench, wiping down her sweat.

_A shower sounds good right about now._

Momo checked the time as she made for the door, it was 7 in the morning.

_I wonder if anyone else is up?_

 

/

 

The answer to Momo’s question was a definite yes, judging by the sounds coming from the kitchen.

Dahyun and Chaeyoung were chilling on the island stools in the kitchen.

Bags of snacks laid spread out on the countertop, the two were munching on them as they talked. Dahyun was cracking up as Chaeyoung retold her tale.

“And then he asked me, ‘What the hell? What do you even lift?’. And I said, ‘Oh, ya know, just car engines every now and then’.”

Dahyun’s laughter rang out as Chaeyoung grinned, “You should have seen his face. Oh man, it was hilarious!”

Her laughter trailed off as Dahyun wiped her eyes. The two basked in the calm morning silence, the sound of chips crunching the only thing heard.

 

Chaeyoung spoke up after a while, “Hey, you think any of them are up yet?”

Dahyun threw some chips in her mouth before responding. “Hmm, at least one of them should be awake. Wanna call them?”

“Sure.” Chaeyoung pulled out her phone to dial a number. Ringing filled the kitchen as she put it on speaker phone.

A click and a voice answered, “Good morning guys, what’s up?”

“Morning Wendy unnie, how’s it going?”

“Oh, it’s all good over here. Seulgi and Yeri are still sleeping, typical morning.”

 

Chaeyoung hummed in response, Dahyun still launching chips into her mouth.

“We’re just calling to update you guys, we woke up early today to scout out the city. Ya know, get to know the streets and all that. I already sent the data over.”

“Nice, I’ll sort out what you guys mapped out. We’ll head out later today to get some more details, mostly to scan the city’s ‘shortcuts’ and other roads that aren’t officially on the map.”

“Anything else you guys need?”

“Nah, we’ll update you guys if anything comes up. We’re still keeping our ears to the ground.”

“Thanks unnie, see ya later!”

“Bye guys!”

Chaeyoung ended the call and set her phone down on the counter.

 

A rumble sounded out making her look over to Dahyun, who had a hand on her stomach.

Chaeyoung laughed, “You hungry?”

“Yeah haha,” Dahyun sheepishly patted her tummy, “These snacks taste good but they’re just snacks. You think they got ramen in this place?”

Dahyun started looking around the kitchen. Chaeyoung chuckled, “I’m pretty sure they do but let’s wait. I have a feeling someone will start cooking breakfast soon.”

 

As if on cue, Sana walked into the kitchen. The three froze and stared at each other, surprise etched on their faces.

Sana blinked before opening her mouth, “Oh, good morning! Wow, I didn’t expect anyone else to be awake at this time.”

“Trust me, I’d still be sleeping if Chaeyoung didn’t drag me out of bed.”

“We woke up early to check out the city. Less people at this time, ya know? Easier to scout the streets that way.”

 

Sana nodded as she maneuvered around the kitchen, taking out ingredients and pans before placing them on the counter.

“I see you guys got acquainted with the convenience store nearby. How about some real breakfast?”

Sana offered as she finished placing everything she needed on the kitchen island.

DubChaeng nodded enthusiastically and said in unison, “Yes please!”

Sana giggled before getting to work. “If you don’t mind helping me, I’m planning on making enough for the others too.”

She motioned over to the chopping boards, “Can you chop these? It’ll be faster with your help.”

The two rolled up their sleeves before assisting Sana, following her instructions when she called them out.

It was a sight to see if anyone were to walk in now, the three were like a well-oiled machine as they dished out plate after plate.

 

/

 

Sana was awake when Momo got back to their room, she mentioned heading down to make breakfast.

Momo hopped in the shower, praying that Sana wouldn’t burn down the kitchen again. Sure, it was only one time that it happened but she liked to hold it over Sana’s head and tease her about it.

 

Momo dried her hair with a towel as she stepped out of the bathroom. She spotted Mina still asleep, pillows surrounded her as if to fill the missing space on both sides of her.

She sat down on the bed, her hand reaching out to pat Mina’s hair.

“Mitang, time to wake up.” Momo gently said to rouse Mina from her sleep.

It took a while but Mina finally came to. “Hmmm?”

“C’mon Mitang, wakey wakey. Sana’s cooking breakfast, I think the others will join us too.”

Mina hummed again to acknowledge her words, this time she moved closer to Momo and cuddled her leg.

Momo chuckled, “Alright, I guess we can stay in bed until Sana’s done cooking.”

She carded her hand through Mina’s hair as Mina’s cuddle grip moved to her waist.

 

/

 

Jihyo felt incredibly warm and content.

She had first woken up when the sunlight filtered in through the window and landed on her, the shift in lighting stirred her from sleep. She didn’t make a move, completely comfortable in her position, like a cat taking a sun bath.

She was spooning Nayeon, who was sandwiched between her and Jeongyeon. Their legs were intertwined as they held each other in their sleep.

Nayeon’s back was almost molded to Jihyo’s front, her right hand gripped the back of Jeongyeon’s shirt while her left was wrapped around Jihyo’s hand. Her head was tucked into the crook of Jeongyeon’s neck, the two still dozing away.  

Jihyo laid there in silence, basking in the peace of the moment. After a while, she felt a shift in their breathing as they began to wake up.

Nayeon and Jeongyeon both groaned in pain, apparently Nayeon knocked her head into Jeongyeon’s chin in the process of her waking up.

Jihyo amusingly watched on as her girlfriends were grumbling at each other.

_Well, the peace and quiet was nice while it lasted._

 

/

 

Tzuyu zipped her jacket up as a light breeze came over her.

She had woken up a while ago, being a natural early riser. The sunrise caught her eye as it was beginning to peek.

The room she was staying in had a balcony but Tzuyu wasn’t quite satisfied with the view. So naturally, she climbed up to the rooftop. Luckily, the balcony’s ledge provided a nice platform for her to hoist herself up.

She had perched herself on the edge of the roof, with the balcony right below her feet. The birds chirped as the sunlight began to peek above the tree line surrounding the estate.

From her view, she had a decent eye over the vast estate. It was like a blanket of green, other than the pool and the garden being the only places with different coloring.

_I wonder if Gucci would like it here. I mean, there’s plenty of space to run around._

The smell of food being cooked woke Tzuyu from her thoughts. “I guess the others are awake. Time for breakfast!”

Tzuyu hopped down to the balcony before making her way downstairs.

 

/

 

Sana wiped her brow gently, “Whew, we’re finally done!”

Dahyun and Chaeyoung stood by her side, nodding in approval. On the counter was a variety of plates of fresh, piping hot food.

“I can’t believe we cooked this much. It’s like a breakfast buffet.”

Chaeyoung rubbed her neck, “I hope the others get here soon or there won’t be any left.”

“Man, I’m sooo hungry.” Dahyun’s stomach growled louder than before.

 

The pitter patter of footsteps drew near. The three in the kitchen looked at the doorway, spotting the other members.

“It smells good!”

“Morning guys.”

“Wow, how much did you guys cook?”

The girls sat down around the kitchen island before starting to eat. It felt like they’ve done this a thousand times, sitting down and sharing breakfast together.

 

/

 

After a while, the girls started to get full. Except Jeongyeon, Momo, and Dahyun; they were still shoveling food into their mouths.

Everybody was at ease until Mina spoke up.

“Since we’re all gathered here, let’s talk business. We usually do our meetings here, the conference room is for more formal matters anyways.”

“Good idea!” Sana agreed, “Since none of you have been officially inducted into our ranks, you’re all new recruits technically. When the ceremony happens, you’ll all be officially under our command but well above any other clan rank.”

Momo chimed in, “What Sana’s trying to say is, we’ll be doing off-the-record missions until you’re all official clan members.”

“Exactly, let’s move on to what’s been happening lately.” Sana gathered everyone’s attention with that.

 

“We’ve been focusing on international matters lately, so much that it caused us to neglect some of our more domestic dealings here. Some gangs have been moving onto our territory as a result.”

Sana pulled out a manila folder, placing a file with a red oni mask on the table along with an outlined map of the territories in the Kansai region.

“This is the symbol of the Masked Oni, a new gang that’s managed to absorb some of the smaller gangs around the region. They’ve taken control of the territories on the outskirts of the region and some in the city here.” She pointed out the areas on the map, “We’ve secured our hold on our remaining turf, most of them are in the main cities.”

Nayeon was surprised even though she saw this coming. She didn’t expect for them to take on the gang this quickly. She made eye contact with the others when the name of the rival gang came up.

 

Mina picked it up, “By taking over the outskirts, they’re trying to put pressure on our trade routes and ports. They’ve had little success but if this continues, some of our revenue streams will take a hit eventually. We have to take care of them before they try moving further into the city.”

“Any concerns before we start?”

“Yeah, I got something,” Nayeon called out, “My team has some dirt on one of the gang’s lieutenants. Name’s Nakanishiki Kuma, the North Bridge Guardian.”

Jeongyeon spoke out after, “We’ve been keeping tabs on him ever since we entered the Kansai region. His activities caught our eye, didn’t know he’d turn out to be an enemy so soon.”

“Oh! We got something too.” Dahyun looked over at Nayeon, “The card, unnie.”

As Nayeon pulled out the card she got from Dahyun, Chaeyoung explained their earlier encounter.

“So we basically had a run in with some of their ranks. Don’t know who they report to but we figured it’s the guy in charge of the ‘west bridge’. She pointed to the matching symbol on the business card.

 

While Sana was taking notes on the new intel, Mina continued, “This will help, nice work. If that’s all, let’s get to it.”

She gave a nod to Momo.

“Alright, first things first,” Momo had finally set down her plate, “We’ll be splitting up into teams for some recon. Then we’ll deal with them according to the intel we gather.”

“Try to be discreet. We _do_ want to have the element of surprise on our side when we strike.”

Mina grinned, knowing that they were all capable individuals, but wondered if they could be discreet. She knew some of them were capable of attracting trouble without doing anything at all.

 

//

 

Later that day – afternoon-ish  

 

Momo had no idea how they got here.

She only knew that her, Dahyun, and Chaeyoung were supposed to be scouting this Kuma guy’s warehouse.

That didn’t explain why they were all hiding in bushes atop a hill that overlooked the warehouse, binoculars in hand like a scene out of a cliché tv show.

If Momo had to guess, they probably got the idea when the two accidently stumbled upon Mina’s collection of old school detective shows. She had found them camped out in the living room after breakfast, binge watching the series. They had roped her into watching with them, enticing her with snacks and their exaggerated commentary.

 

Dahyun’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Hmm, doesn’t look like a lot of security around the warehouse. But it’s not lax either, couple of guards patrolling around.”

Dahyun and Chaeyoung were scanning the warehouse through the binoculars while Momo kept an eye out.

_Couldn’t we have done this during the night? It’s still daytime, for crying out loud._

“Looks like a standard warehouse, probably has some extra locks on those doors. No worries, I can just pick it.”

“Or… we can sneak onto the second floor by the roof. There’s a rooftop access panel that we can unscrew. What do you think?”

Momo debated the two choices before deciding, “The rooftop. We can use the second floor as a vantage point, any documents that they have are probably stored in the upstairs office.”

 

The three of them got up into a crouch, still hidden by the bushes.

“Should we be doing this in broad daylight?” Momo was hesitant, worrying about possible civilians noticing them.

“Yeah, it’s not a problem!” Dahyun gave her shoulder a couple pats.

Chaeyoung gave her a lazy grin, “They won’t expect anybody to sneak in during the daytime. Plus, if there’s nobody around at night, they wouldn’t be afraid to pull out their guns. Mina unnie said to be discreet, remember?”

“You have a point there. Well, let’s get going then.” Momo nodded in agreement, “There’s a small apartment complex right next to the warehouse; we can use the building’s roof to jump across.”

 

The trio made their way down the street of the apartment, which wasn’t too far away from the hilltop they were perched at.

Once the door of the building was within reach, Momo pushed the glass door of the lobby and walked in casually, as if she were one of the residents. She climbed the stairs up to the rooftop, Dahyun and Chaeyoung right behind her.

“Oof, at least this place doesn’t have too many floors.” Dahyun huffed out when they got to the rooftop.

Momo scanned the warehouse that was now adjacent to them, the space in between was like a wide alley.

“There.” She pointed out, “See that ledge that’s sticking out? We can make it over if we jump.”

Chaeyoung nodded, “Let’s wait and see if there’s any patrols on this side first.”

 

After a couple minutes, she called out, “Coast is clear. Whenever you’re ready.”

Momo briefly stretched before making a run. She used the roof’s guardrail as a stepping stone, launching herself over the edge. Momo braced her body for the impact, tucking and rolling when she hit the ground.

She stayed in a crouch and scanned the rooftop. Seeing that it was clear, Momo turned around and waved.

Dahyun ran when she saw the signal, leaping in the air and landing in a crouch.

“Superhero landing!” Dahyun whispered triumphantly when she landed.

Chaeyoung made it to the other side shortly after Dahyun. She snickered and lightly shoved Dahyun, “You dork.”

A small grin tugged at Momo’s mouth, “C’mon, let’s see what they’re hiding here.”

 

Chaeyoung moved over to where Momo was. She took out a swiss army knife, using the screwdriver to open up the rooftop panel.

While she was doing that, Dahyun spotted the rooftop’s electrical box nearby. An idea came to her, she quietly called out to Chaeyoung, “When you’re done removing that, don’t go in just yet.”

Dahyun opened up the electrical box, revealing wires and circuits. Momo watched as Dahyun messed with the contents inside, she finished just as Chaeyoung lifted up the rooftop panel.

Dahyun regrouped with the two, prompting them to ask what she just did.

“Just placed a little bug inside, their security feed is now linked to Jeongyeon unnie’s set-up. She can monitor this place with their own cameras now.”

“Nice thinking dude.” Chaeyoung gave Dahyun an approving fist bump, Momo following after.

“Alright, let’s get inside now.”

 

The three hopped down the access panel quietly, landing behind some cargo boxes on the second floor. Luckily for them, no one was on that floor and they were hidden behind the crates. The guards occupying the warehouse were all on the first floor or patrolling outside.

Dahyun and Chaeyoung followed silently behind Momo as she lead them to the office space. Once inside, the three spread out to rifle through the documents, trying to find anything of interest.

After a while of taking pictures of papers and bugging the computers, Momo decided it was time to bail.

“Ok, I think we got enough data. Let’s get outta here.”

The three of them sneaked back up to the roof. Chaeyoung screwed the access panel back in, leaving behind no trace of intrusion. They left the same way they came in, jumping from roof to roof.

 

Making their way back to the hilltop, they got into Dahyun’s car.

“Mission accomplished!” Dahyun shifted the car into gear, driving them away from the scene quickly.

“I’m sending all the data we found to Nayeon unnie. Hopefully, she’ll find something amidst all of those documents.” Chaeyoung’s fingers flew over her phone rapidly.

Momo nodded, “I gotta say, that went pretty well. Let’s head back to HQ for now.

“Aye Cap’n!”

Dahyun stepped on the accelerator, the engine roaring as it threw Momo back in her seat.

“ACKK!”

 

//

 

Same day – still afternoon

(A short while after MoDubChaeng took a ‘leap of faith’)

 

Lights flashed all around her, the din of the casino floor rumbled in the background. It wasn’t packed but there was a decent amount of people gambling their money away.

Tzuyu sat in front of a slot machine, baseball cap on to slightly hide her identity.

She pulled the lever, nonchalantly acting as if she were just another player in the casino.

Tzuyu spoke quietly, her in-ear communicator hidden by her hair and her cap.

“You guys in the clear? Spot anything interesting yet?”

 

Over by the bar sat Nayeon, sipping on a cup, pretending to watch the boxing match on the tv mounted on the wall.

_“All good by the bar. How is it on your end, Sana?”_

 

_“Wooo! Royal Flush, baby! LET’S GET THIS BREAD!”_

Sana loudly cheered, hands up in the air as she jumped up and down in excitement.

 

Tzuyu and Nayeon could hear the cheering crowd surrounding a poker table from their positions. A distinct figure bobbed up and down in the crowd.

“Ohmygod, did you just –“ Tzuyu snickered at Sana’s words.

At the same time, Nayeon almost did a spit take. _“My ears, why???”_

_“Diversion, guys. Let’s go another round, boys!”_

Sana had quietly said the first part, before peeking at the cards dealt to her.

 

_“Alright, while Sana’s busy, what do you see?”_

Tzuyu inserted some more coins into the slot machine, looking around as she did so.

“Security’s tight, a little more than usual for an average casino though. Guards look like they’re packing heat. They’re hiding an insane amount of cash or something highly illegal, only reason I can think of for all the guns.”

She pulled the lever, the slot machine whirring as it spun.

 

_“Hmm. Time to move on, meet me in the bathroom.”_

Tzuyu nodded, only to realize that Nayeon couldn’t see her.

“Keep doing what you’re doing, Sana.” She chuckled before getting up from her seat.

 

Tzuyu maneuvered through the crowd of the casino floor, making her way to a sparse hallway where the bathrooms were located.

She went in, spotting Nayeon leaning on the far wall, waiting for her. Tzuyu locked the door before turning back around.

“We should start part 2 of our plan. Sana can only distract them for so long.”

“Let’s get to it then.”

Nayeon pulled open the bathroom’s supply closet, taking out a duffle bag filled with clothes.

“Good thing you know someone who could drop these off for us.”

The two changed into the clothes, which were disguises of the casino security and staff.

Nayeon turned around after changing into the security suit. She took notice of Tzuyu’s form and smirked.

“Is that a gun in your pants or are you just happy to see me?”

Tzuyu simply smirked at Nayeon and winked, “I’m always packing.”

Nayeon was stunned, her cheeks flushed a pretty pink.

Tzuyu gave her a small laugh as she unlocked the door. Nayeon followed after her, sputtering out, “Wait, seriously??”

“It’s a gun, yes. Just in case things go south.” Tzuyu grinned, “Don’t worry, its got a silencer on it.”

 

Nayeon nodded as she and Tzuyu walked down the hallway, trying to get to the employee section.

“Let’s hurry, the faster we bug this place, the faster we can get outta here. Sana’s good at diversions but I don’t want her to attract _too_ much attention.”

They reached the door marked for ‘employees only’, it was locked with a keypad. Nayeon quickly inputted the code and the two made it inside.

Passing the employee break room, the two sneaked down the hall until they saw a door with the sign ‘Server Room’.

“There! That’s it.”

After they got in, Tzuyu stood by the door. “Alright, do your thing. I’ll keep an eye out.”

Nayeon opened up one of the servers and plugged in a tiny micro-chip. She pulled out a small tablet and got to work.

 

What they came here to do, other than to scout the casino scene, was to hack into the database. Her network told her that some of the establishments in the city weren’t what they seemed to be. A little digging showed that some of them were actually fronts for the Masked Oni gang.

Nayeon figured that taking out one of their sources of revenue would hurt the gang, but first she had to bug the place before they could do any heisting of any sorts.

 

“Can you tell Sana to start wrapping up? I’m finishing up here.” She grunted as she restored the server to its original state, leaving no trace of any tampering behind.

“Sana, time to pack it up. We’re done on our end.”

Tzuyu spoke into her in-ear as she and Nayeon left the room, their heads swiveling left and right for any guards. They made their way back to the bathroom to change into their previous clothes. Tzuyu emerged with the duffle bag on her, not taking the chance for the disguises to be discovered here.

She and Nayeon navigated themselves through the casino’s main floor, trying not to seem out of place or in a rush. Eventually, the two made it out and waited by the curb.

 

A non-descript 4-door car pulled up to them. Sana’s voice came through their communicator, “It’s me, get in!”

Tzuyu and Nayeon got in the car and Sana took off as soon as the doors closed. Tzuyu watched the rear-view mirror, keeping a look out just in case.

“How’d it go? Everything work out?”

Nayeon answered as she pulled out her tablet again, “Yeah, the bug is in place but I need to check the signal. Keep driving, I have to test its distance.”

“Roger.” Sana kept her eyes on the road, driving them back to the estate.

“Alright, the connection is stable. We now have remote access to their security system.” Nayeon let out a sigh of relief as the adrenaline began to wear off.

Sana however, was still pumped with adrenaline, which was weird cause she wasn’t the one sneaking around in enemy territory. “That was so much fun, you guys!!”

“The wheel, Sana! THE WHEEL!!”

 

//

 

Same day – night time

(A couple hours after the other members returned to HQ)

 

Panic was a weak word to describe what Jihyo was feeling right now.  

She was smack-dab in the middle of the dancefloor, surrounded by the crowd. Mina’s back was flush against her front, grinding down onto Jihyo’s hips to the beat of the music.

Jihyo’s body heat rose, she was sure the crowd wasn’t helping, what with them pushing Mina closer to her. Jihyo couldn’t help but follow along, her hands gripped Mina’s hips firmly.

She was sure that Jeongyeon was enjoying the show, wherever she was hiding in the club.

Mina leaned back, her head coming to rest in the crook of Jihyo’s neck. One of her hands came up and grab the back of Jihyo’s neck.

“Don’t think, you’ll make it obvious that we’re snooping around.”

Jihyo gulped but followed Mina’s instructions.

_“Yeah Jihyo, don’t think about it.”_

The sound of Jeongyeon’s snickering came through their in-ears, Mina merely smirked as Jihyo flushed a bit more.

 

_“You guys will have to be my eyes out there. The security cameras can’t catch everything cause the club’s too dark.”_

“What do you need?” Mina asked casually, as if she wasn’t making Jihyo’s soul escape from her body at the moment.

_“Your 12 o’clock. I need numbers on the second floor.”_

Jihyo discreetly looked up, scanning the club staff on the second floor.

“4 guards; two by the stairs leading up, the other two on patrols through the area. Possible firearms.”

_“Ok, now your 3 o’clock. There’s a door behind the DJ setup but the booth is blocking my view.”_

Jihyo flicked her eyes over. She was about to respond but her breath caught in her throat.

_What the FUCK Mina. You can’t just – eep!_

Apparently, Mina was having a grand time flustering Jihyo. She upped it a notch by taking one of Jihyo’s hand and slowly trailed it over her stomach.

_She has abs?! Ohmygod I’m gonna die._

_“ –hyo. Earth to Jihyo.”_

“2,” Jihyo managed to say, “2 bouncers, they’ve got heavy builds. They’ll be tough in a fight.”

_“Hmm, I think you guys are in the clear. Swing by the bathrooms, I’ve secured them.”_

Jihyo could practically hear the amusement in Jeongyeon’s voice.

 

Mina detached herself from Jihyo, “Well, that was fun. We should do that again sometime.” She smirked as she began walking to where Jeongyeon was waiting.

Jihyo let out a sigh, whether it was out of relief or disappointment, she wasn’t sure yet. She followed after Mina.

The two stepped into a hallway connected to the club’s main floor. The music was muffled but Jihyo could still hear it through the walls.

Mina rapped her knuckles on the bathroom door twice before it was opened by Jeongyeon.

“Hey! Did you kids have a nice time?” Jeongyeon wiggled her eyebrows up and down with a cheeky grin on her face.

“Shut it.” Jihyo lightly pushed her as she walked into the bathroom.

Jeongyeon laughed as she held the door open, Mina giggled along with her.

Jihyo leaned against the sinks, watching as Jeongyeon locked the door.

 

Jeongyeon walked pass the two, back to her laptop. She had set it up on one of those diaper-changing stations in the bathroom.

“So, did you find anything?”

“Yup, I managed to hack into the camera feed connected to the back rooms. Check this out.”

The sound of keyboard typing echoed until a recording played.

_“Has the shipment arrived?”_

_“Yeah, 10 kilos. All prepared, just waiting for shipment.”_

_“Good. Contact the warehouse and have them deliver it here. We can resume distribution when it gets here.”_

The recording cut out.

“Huh, interesting.” Jihyo crossed her arms.

“Indeed.” Mina nodded, “So, there’s drugs being smuggled into a warehouse and they’re distributing it to the clubbers here.”

A sigh slipped out from Jeongyeon, “What a waste. So much potential and all they’re handling is drugs.”

She closed her laptop before stretching her arms. “I’ll be glad once we take this place off their hands.”

Jihyo got to her feet, her head inclined towards the door, “Let’s get out of here. There’s not much else we can do now.”

She smirked, “Discreetly, that is.”

 

//

 

Trinity Estate – close to 10 PM

 

When Jeongyeon, Jihyo, and Mina walked in through the front doors, they were immediately assaulted.

By the delicious smell that wafted from the kitchen, that is.

Mina took a deep breath, a pleasant smile breaking out, “ _What_ is that smell?”

“Wow, I haven’t smelled this aroma in _so_ long.” Jeongyeon had her head tilted back, her nose up in the air, trying to inhale as much of the scent as she could.

“It’s gotta be Chaeng,” Jihyo shoved at her, trying to stop her extraness. “She’s the only one we know that produces this scent when cooking.”

“Ohmygod, you gotta try her cooking, Mina! It’s like a taste of heaven.”

“You should wipe your drool while you’re at it.”

“Whatever.” Jeongyeon grinned as she walked towards the kitchen, Jihyo and Mina trailed after her.

 

They entered the kitchen, spotting the others lounging around the kitchen island. Chaeyoung was manning the helm, like Jihyo said. Momo and Dahyun were helping her prep some ingredients but other than that, Chaeyoung was mainly doing the cooking. She had her hair in a high ponytail, an apron covering her clothes as she tended to the various pans and pots on the counter.

“We’re back!”

Jeongyeon announced, making the girls look up and cheer at their arrival. The three take a seat next to the others at the island stools.

“What’s the occasion?”

“Nothing, just felt like it.” Chaeyoung replied as she added in sprinkles of various spices, expertly stirring the contents in the pan.

“It’s been a while since I cooked, that’s all.”

She hummed, switching her focus over to the pots as the pan sizzled, giving it time to evenly cook.

 

“You guys are gonna love this. Watching Chaeng cook is like a show _and_ a dinner!” Dahyun said as she placed everything she chopped into a glass bowl and mixed it, before handing it over to Chaeyoung.

The oven dinged just as Chaeyoung nodded her thanks, “Oh! Just in time.”

She pulled out a tray of slices of garlic bread and placed it on the counter. The ingredients that Dahyun had previously chopped were fresh Roma tomatoes, mixed together with minced garlic, salt, pepper, basil, and a splash of olive oil. Grabbing the bowl that Dahyun gave her, Chaeyoung scooped the contents onto the slices of bread.

She plated the topped garlic bread before serving it to them at the kitchen island.

“Here, have some bruschetta.”

The members each took a bite, the flavor bursting in their mouths. It was sweet yet savory, mainly because of the Roma tomatoes. They sang praises and compliments to the chef.

Chaeyoung turned back around to continue cooking, her face showing her happiness at their satisfaction.

 

Chaeyoung had grabbed the polpettes, Italian meatballs, from the pan and arranged them on a large plate, which she then placed into the stove oven by the kitchen wall.

“I still can’t believe you guys have a stone oven in your kitchen.”

“You haven’t tasted real pizza until you make it yourself in a stone-fired oven.”

“Where did you learn to cook Italian cuisine?”

“Italy, of course!” Chaeyoung cheekily smiled as the fire blazed around the plate of thick meatballs, the heat managing to propel the smell of seasoned ground meat and aromatic spices throughout the kitchen.

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yup!”

Chaeyoung used a pair of tongs to grab the hot plate, dumping the polpettes into a pan full of noodles and tomato sauce. She sprinkled some cheese before serving the members fresh plates of spaghetti and meatballs.

“I’ll tell you guys the story as we eat.”

 

The girls dug into the food, making pleased noises at the first bite, and every bite after that. Chaeyoung smiled as she ate a forkful.

“So, me and Dahyun spent a couple months in Italy. Mainly because it was the season for Formula-1 racing. We took our crew with us cause we didn’t know how long we’d stay. Seulgi unnie was the one who taught me how to cook when we weren’t working on racecars.”

“That’s amazing.”

“And delicious!” The girls mumbled in agreement.

 

They conversed for a while as they ate their food. When they finished, the conversation trickled to an easy silence.

Mina took the initiative, “Well, now that we’re full, should we report our findings?”

“Sure.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Chaeyoung cleared the dishes, Momo helping her clean up as the others straightened a little in their seats.

 

“I’ll go first.” Jeongyeon spoke as she fiddled with her laptop. “We went to a club; turns out it’s a distribution center for their drugs. They probably sell other illegal contraband among drugs.”

Jihyo chimed in, “Apparently their supply comes from a warehouse, where they offload the smuggled goods.”

“Oh! I think I know where this warehouse is.” Dahyun interrupted, excitedly pointing out, “We snuck into the place, found a bunch of documents about legal assets and stuff. I think Chaeyoung sent it to Nayeon unnie.” She looked over to Chaeyoung who nodded.

Nayeon pulled out her tablet and showed them the documents.

“It’s a property deed to the warehouse, the club, and a casino. The name that’s standing is the Kuma guy we have our eye on. He’s most likely the ring leader for this operation then.”

“Casino?” Sana tilted her head, “That makes total sense then!”

“You’re right.” It was Tzuyu who spoke next. “We bugged the casino’s security servers. We’ve been monitoring it ever since we got back. The place is a front for their laundering; the money they get from selling the drugs at the club comes back to the casino.”

Nayeon continued from there, “Where the dirty cash gets laundered into legal bills through the casino system, leaving no trace of the drug dealings. With all that money, it’s no wonder why all the guards there are packing some serious heat.”

“So… now that we’ve gathered all this intel, what are we gonna do with it?”

 

Everyone looked to Mina.

“Well, it only makes sense if we take down their operation. That way, the gang loses their income and their territories all in one go.”

Chaeyoung audibly gasped. She excitedly asked, “Are we pulling a HEIST?!”

Dahyun easily got roped in, “Ohmygod please PLEASE, that would be EPIC!!”

“Looks like we’re on the same page.” Mina chuckled at their excitement.

“Wait, seriously?” Nayeon had to ask, “What’s the plan then?”

Mina merely smirked, her eyes looked over the members one by one.

“Do any of you know where to get an armored security truck? The ones used by the casino to transport their money?”

“OH WE ARE SO PULLING A HEIST!”

 

//

 


	9. club takeovers, casino heists, and spartan kicks (Kuma of the north, part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuma means bear in Japanese 
> 
> The gang making moves on the Masked Oni's North Bridge Guardian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyy i'm back :)  
> did you guys check out twice's yes or yes mv? the choreo looks intense, like way more than dtna! rip grandma nayeon lmaoo  
> after this chapter, i'll be writing the next. it'll probably take a while cause i just got red dead redemption 2 :o  
> enjoy!
> 
> trigger warning: minor character death, implied and briefly mentioned

03-2

//

The next day – sometime around 8PM  

 

_“First up, the club. We have to disable the gang’s distribution center; that’ll disrupt their main way of dealing product the fastest. Once we hit them, the clock will start ticking. No doubt, they’ll try to call the other locations for backup so be ready to move out.”_

 

The bass thumped in the background, in time with Jeongyeon’s heartbeat. Or… was it the other way around?

Jeongyeon shook her head. _Focus, shit’s about to go down in the club._

She was currently at the bar, sitting beside Momo and Tzuyu.

Jeongyeon turned her head towards them, “What are we gonna do about all these civilians?”

Momo spun around on her bar stool to look at the crowd, the people dancing without a care.

“I don’t know but they’ll probably run off screaming once they finally notice that something’s happening.”

“Which would not work in our favor.” Tzuyu commented. “A panicking and drunk stampede is the last thing we need.”

Jeongyeon gave them a mischievous smile, “I can keep them distracted while you two work your magic.”

The other two contemplated for a bit before they nodded, “If you really think you can…”

To which Jeongyeon nodded vigorously.

“Let’s get to work then.” Momo and Tzuyu hopped off the stools and started walking towards the back room guarded by two buff bouncers.

 

/

 

Jeongyeon quickly maneuvered through the crowd to the DJ booth. The DJ looked up when she got close, she slid him a couple bills as she said, “Keep playing no matter what happens.”

The DJ gave her a thumbs-up, “You got it!”

Jeongyeon returned to the bar, waving the bartender over. “Hey man, I’m feeling pretty generous tonight. Lemme buy everyone a round of shots!”

The bartender quickly prepared trays upon trays of shots. Jeongyeon grinned as he did so.

_Oh, this is gonna be so much fun!_

She climbed up on the bar counter and proceeded to shout, “EVERYBODY! FREE SHOTS ON ME!!!”

The crowd let out an almost deafening roar at her announcement, the atmosphere kicking itself up a few hundred notches. Everybody was rightfully distracted by the energy and the free alcohol. Jeongyeon downed a shot just for the hell of it.

“WOOOOO!!”

The crowd cheered louder after she finished, they started to chant _SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS_.

 

/

 

At the roar of the crowd, Momo and Tzuyu were about to approach the two bouncers.

“I’m starting to think we have a knack for bar fights.”

“I think you’re onto something.” Momo chuckled as she cracked her knuckles.

“Ready?”

“Always.”

The two marched up to the bouncers, Momo dishing out the first hit. Out of nowhere, for the bouncer at least, she rapidly delivered blow after blow to the guard’s face, eventually knocking him out.

Tzuyu, on the other hand, had grabbed a steel crowbar on the way over. It had caught her eye earlier, sitting on top of a crate of liquor bottles behind the bar. She drew the weapon back and gave the other bouncer a quick wallop, the blunt end of the crowbar smacking him unconscious as he slumped onto the floor.

Momo kicked the door to the back room open and the two of them charged in.

The room was reminiscent of an employee lounge room. On the tables were bottles of alcohol and packages of drugs instead of what one might find in a legal establishment. There were roughly about 15 of the club staff loitering around the room. Tzuyu dubbed them as thugs.

The thugs were caught off guard from their entrance. Momo used that to her advantage and threw a punch to the closest guy to her. The other guys in the room got up in alarm before rushing at them.

Momo went off, laying the smack on thug after thug. From where she was, Tzuyu saw a grin on Momo’s face.

Tzuyu turned her attention back to the thug in front of her. She drew her crowbar up with a grin, “Sorry bud, we’re in a bit of a rush here.”

 

/

 

By now, Jeongyeon had to guess that the majority of the crowd on the dancefloor already took their free shots. They were still amped up and well distracted; if she wasn’t on business right now, she would have been drawn into the excitement as well.  

It had been about 12 minutes since Momo and Tzuyu went into the back room. So far, she hadn’t seen any type of call for backup. Still, she tapped into the club’s security system and managed to jam any signals from coming in or out, just in case.

From her position at the bar, Jeongyeon could make out fleeting shadows moving quickly behind the door of the private room.

After a couple of bass-pumping songs, the door swung open revealing Tzuyu with a crowbar slung over her shoulder. She gave a thumbs-up to Jeongyeon as she grinned like a cat who ate the canary.

Jeongyeon quickly sent out a message to the others, signaling that they took care of things on their end.

_[We took over the club. It’s all on you guys now.]_

 

//

 

_“After we’ve secured the club, the casino is next. I have a two-team plan in mind for this place. One team will hit the casino from the front, while another team takes the money from the back. Remember, we don’t want any unnecessary attention, too many civilians present. The objective for this location is to drain as much cash as possible from the casino.”_

 

The Pit

 

“Alright guys, we just got the go signal. Suit up!”

Dahyun shouted out as soon as she got the text from Jeongyeon. The girls all scrambled off to put on the security guard disguises, except for Yeri and Chaeyoung. Those two were dressed in a couple of pant suits, making them look like high rollers, which was exactly the look they were going for.

Once suited, Seulgi grabbed a pair of keys, running towards an armored security truck, the kind that transports money around. She started the vehicle up and waited for the others.

The truck only seated two passengers so the other members were following in another car, a bulletproof and tinted SUV to be exact.

 

“What if things go south? What should we do?” Joy asked as she walked back into the garage area, tugging on her suit.

“That’s what these are for.” Irene came in holding a pair of semi-automatic pistols, handing one to Joy. “But only on my word.”

Joy nodded as she secured the firearm to the holster that Wendy handed to her.

“Here, take these too.” Yeri passed out suppressors for the pistols, the crew attaching the mod without question. It did come from their tech and weapons expert after all.

“I took a look at the building schematics; the loading bay is the farthest from the casino floor so no civilians will hear any shots fired.” Yeri pulled out the schematics on a tablet, pointing to the sections as she explained.

“The guards patrolling the interior hallways between the floor and the bay on the other hand, will definitely be able to hear normal gunfire. That’s what the silencers are for.”

 

“Everyone has their bulletproof vests on, right?” Chaeyoung said as she leaned on the side of the SUV. “This is just a simple get-in-and-get-out type of mission for you all, but we’re not taking any chances. Expect security to have heavy firearms, it is a casino after all.”

The crew gave their affirmatives. “Alright, let’s get a move on then! We’re on a schedule here.”

“We’ll head out first!” Yeri called out as she and Chaeyoung drove off in a non-descript sports car.

Dahyun got into the truck with Seulgi, the rest of her crew getting into the SUV.

“Step on it unnie, it’s payday.”

 

/

 

“How much money do you think flows outta here?” Yeri asked as she took a look around the casino’s main floor.

Chaeyoung inserted another coin into the slot machine and pressed the buttons. “Millions? This _is_ one of the more prominent casino’s in this district.”

The slot machine erupted in noise and flashing lights as coins poured out of it. Yeri turned her head towards it. “Wow, was it that easy to rig?”

Chaeyoung chuckled as she tapped a few buttons on her phone, “Apparently. This will definitely be one of our easier jobs.”

“Yeah,” Yeri smirked, “As long as we don’t get caught.”

Chaeyoung scoffed, “When have we ever been caught?”

Yeri stared at her before saying one word, “Monaco.”

“That was ONE TIME!”

“Please, the pretty girl at the bar distracted you _once_ and you forgot to disable the alarm to the vault we were _in_.” Yeri had a shit-eating grin as she teased her.

“Pfft, as if you didn’t see her too. Not my fault that she kinda looked like Dahyun. And technically! We didn’t get caught… We got out of there before the police arrived.”

“Good thing we had back-up plans for that mission.”

“Speaking of missions, let’s get back to ours. You ready to rig this place up?”

“And rob the House blind? I’m always ready.”

“I’ll take point over all of these.” Chaeyoung pointed over to the rows of slot machines. “Gotta love automated systems! Makes my job helluva lot easier.”

Yeri nodded and smirked, “I’ll take my place at the tables then. It wasn’t easy but I got an insider to rig the card shufflers at every table.” She held up her hand, showing Chaeyoung a fake ring with a hidden mechanism.

“With a press of this button, the House will lose every game at every table.”

“Dude, that’s sick!”

 

/

 

The crew left The Pit as Seulgi drove them to the casino, the SUV trailing behind like a security escort.

 _“Checking in. Everybody’s communicators working?”_ Yeri’s voice came in through everyone’s in-ears. She and Chaeyoung were already in the casino at this point, being part of the team that’ll hit from the front.

“Hear ya loud and clear!”

“We’re nearing the rear of the casino. Get ready guys.”

“Remember to keep your guns holstered until I say so.”

 _“Alright guys, let’s make this a quick deal. We’ll handle things on the front end.”_ Chaeyoung said before signing off.

 

/

 

Seulgi pulled up to the back of the casino’s loading bay. The casino’s security guards opened up the loading bay doors as she reversed in. They all came to a park and the girls exited the vehicles.

 

“Hey there,” Wendy started off with a friendly smile, “We’re here for pickup and transport for tonight.”

The guard nodded, “Right on schedule. The bags have already been loaded with this week’s payout.”

Wendy smiled in response, waving at the others to start loading the bags of money into the armored truck.

 

Right as the girls loaded the last bag into the truck, one of the security guard’s walkie talkie sounded off. “Hold it.” He pulled the communicator up to his ear.

Everybody froze, this unexpected action didn’t come up in their plan. Tension built up as they waited to hear the message on the other side.

Joy’s hand twitched as she almost reached for her pistol. She kept it holstered though, clearly remembering her squad leader’s words.

A bead of sweat dripped down Dahyun’s neck, she prepared herself for a fight if it was necessary.

Irene held one of the bags she was loading up in front of her chest, using it like a shield as she waited.

 

Finally, the security guard relayed the message. “Never mind, everything’s good. Several people just hit the jackpot on the main floor, guess it’s a lucky night tonight.”

The tension bled out of everyone present and an amicable mood returned. They resumed their task in loading the bags and eventually secured the truck’s doors shut.

“Have a nice night.” Wendy smiled and bid the guard goodbye before getting back in the SUV.

Seulgi drove off first, followed by others.

 _“You guys done? We just scored so much back here, it’s kinda ridiculous.”_ Chaeyoung signaled in.

Yeri chimed in as well, _“The crowd is losing it! Everybody’s raking in the money haha!”_

“Nice work guys! It went smoothly on our end. A little nerve-wracking moment but it turned out fine.” Dahyun radioed over.

_“Swing by the front and pick us up! Let’s get all this cash back to our warehouse. I’ll send word to the others to proceed with the rest of the plan.”_

 

//

 

_“Last is the warehouse, their base of operations. They’ll most likely expect a fight so we’ll go packing heat. If we manage this, then Kuma’s got no grip in this part of the city.”_

 

The music inside the café created a calming atmosphere. The remaining four members sat at a table, having some beverages and snacks as they waited.

A chime came from Nayeon’s phone, amusement clearly showed on her face when she read the incoming message.

“What is it?”

“I think I just got the signal from Chaeyoung.”

“You think?” Jihyo asked quizzically.

“Well, she sent me an emoji of a bunny and a thumbs-up so I’m leaning towards yes.”

Nayeon showed the others the text, which was indeed a bunny and a thumbs-up emoji.

Sana giggled, “I know a sign when I see one. Let’s go.”

They paid the bill before stepping out. The café was actually across the street from the rival gang’s warehouse. They thought it was a convenient place to wait.

Before they made a move, Mina spoke to them. “I just want to be clear, we’re not taking any prisoners. It’s the only way to ensure proper elimination of the Masked Oni’s presence here.”

The others nodded in understanding. “You got it, boss.”

 

If guns blazing was a term in the dictionary, then the image of Mina, Sana, Nayeon, and Jihyo busting into the warehouse and popping shells would be the picture accompanying the definition.

In an instant, the four cleared out the main floor, no survivors. Those on the second floor immediately rushed to open fire on them.

The members quickly took cover behind some cargo boxes that were scattered throughout the warehouse. They popped out of cover from time to time to shoot at the thugs.

Jihyo spotted a thug preparing to throw something at them. Her eyes widened in alarm when she realized what it was, “GRENADE! SCATTER!”

The three jumped at Jihyo’s warning, relocating to nearby cover as part of the warehouse rocked with a boom. Jihyo vaulted over the crate she was hiding behind and fired a couple of shots at the grenade-wielding thug, he fell over as the bullets hit him dead on.

“Hey! I think Kuma’s actually here.” Sana said over the gunfire, prompting the others to scan the second floor. She was right, Kuma was upstairs shooting down at them!

“You guys get up there! We’ll cover you.” Jihyo shouted at Nayeon and Mina.

Sana and Jihyo provided covering fire as Mina and Nayeon used the crates as cover as they tried to get to the staircase. Some thugs were hit and tumbled off the railing. The two made it upstairs over the sound of gunfire and shouting.

Now that Mina and Nayeon were upstairs, the attention of the thugs were divided between the first and second floor. Using the distraction to their advantage, Mina and Nayeon picked off the thugs one by one. As the number of enemies lowered, Sana and Jihyo were able to make their way up the staircase.

 

The number of gang members dwindled as the shoot-out continued. Eventually the girls managed to take out the thugs until only Kuma remained.

Mina handed her custom Desert Eagle handgun over to Sana and walked toward him. Kuma stood still, glaring at Mina as she slowly approached.

“Um… should we do something?” Nayeon asked apprehensively, still keeping her aim at Kuma.

Jihyo shook her head and lowered her pistol to her side. “I have a feeling this is a leader thing Mina has to do, right?”

Sana nodded, “Yes, it’s the way we handle territory here. It’s a bit old-fashioned but yes, it all comes down to a one-on-one duel between those in charge.” 

Mina came to a stop a few feet away from Kuma. She gave him a once-over; he was twice the size of her with a muscular build.

“Myoui Mina,” Kuma sardonically called out, “Finally making a move on us, eh?”

“Yes.” Mina merely smirked. “It’s about time I removed your gang’s presence on my territory. It’s been rather an annoyance, really.”

Kuma’s face darkened into a scowl, “You should have stayed away. I’ll crush you!”

 

He charged at Mina with a bellow, she tensed her fighting stance in response. As he came closer, Mina dodged out of the way. For a big fellow, he was surprisingly quick-footed.

Kuma threw punches at Mina who dodged the first few. Unluckily for Mina, Kuma threw in a backhanded strike that she wasn’t expecting. It was strong enough to knock her down. Seeing a chance, Kuma tried to stomp down on Mina. She snapped out of her daze and quickly rolled out of the way.

Mina got to her feet just in time to avoid Kuma’s bull charge. She dodged to the side of him but not before sticking out her leg in an attempt to trip him. He slammed into the wall nearby, the momentum temporarily stunning him. Mina used this short time to catch her breath.

 

Kuma bounced back like it was nothing. He turned around and engaged Mina in a fist fight with such strength and speed that she couldn’t escape. She matched him blow for blow as the fist fight dragged on. For a good while, the only sounds in the warehouse were their fists hitting flesh and the grunts of pain from both of them.

Mina knew she couldn’t carry on the fight forever, even with her impressive stamina. Not against this large of an opponent anyways. She waited for an opening as they continued to exchange hits.

_There!_

Instead of matching the blow, Mina side-stepped it to grab his arm. Using his own strength and momentum against him, she judo-flipped him onto a nearby cargo box. It caved in and collapsed under his weight.

He got to his feet with an angry yell, only to be met with the side of a hardwood box smacking his face. The box broke open upon impact and disorientated him for a second.

 

Kuma charged at her again and Mina rushed to meet him with a flurry of punches and kicks. The two exchanged hits for the nth time, Mina dodged most of them but Kuma got in a few lucky punches.

Mina glanced behind his form during the exchange, something catching her eye. An idea came to her mind.

With renewed vigor, the strength behind her hits became stronger. Mina increased her assault, driving Kuma back towards the guard railing. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for her, he failed to notice.

Mina threw in a couple more punches, one catching Kuma in the gut and temporarily winding him. Seeing her chance, Mina drew her leg up before spartan kicking him hard in the torso.

The force behind Mina’s kick was strong enough to kick Kuma back to the guard railing.

 

Now, Kuma was a man of impressive stature, easily towering over the height of 6 feet.

When he hit the guard rail, it was actually his butt that made contact. He was too tall for the railing so it actually caused his downfall. Literally.

He stumbled backwards, over the guard railing, where he fell to his demise. He screamed as he fell, the fear and desperation clear in his voice, “AHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

The impact of his body upon the warehouse floor was of a sickening heavy thud. It was so loud that Sana, Jihyo, and Nayeon visibly winced.

Mina huffed out heavy breaths as she looked over the railing. Kuma laid on the floor of the warehouse, unmoving.

 

Nayeon quickly made her way downstairs and checked on his prone figure, gun in hand just in case he somehow survived the fall. _Very unlikely. I doubt anyone can survive that._

She looked up and shook her head.

Mina let out a sigh of relief and tried to get her body to relax from the previous physical exertion.

Sana came running up to her, followed by Jihyo.

“You did it!”

“Are you alright? He got in a couple hits for sure.”

“I’m fine. A little battered but fine.”

Footsteps on the steel staircase signaled Nayeon coming back up.

“Mina! How did you throw that crate?” Nayeon’s amazement was shown on her face. “It was like the size of a dog house!”

“Heat of the moment… I guess?” Mina really had no clue, she had just grabbed whatever was nearby.

“I’ll contact my First Lieutenant, she can bring some of our ranks over to secure this location.”

Sana typed out a message on her phone before looking back at Mina.

“In the meantime, let’s get you cleaned up. I’m pretty sure I saw a first-aid kit in that office.”

 

//

 

All of the members regrouped at the estate after they got the message from Sana:

_[Took care of the bear and its den. See you guys back at HQ! xoxo]_

 

Nayeon, Jihyo, Sana, and Mina were the first to reach the estate. They made their way to the living room where they all plopped down onto the couch.

Dahyun and Chaeyoung arrived next. The duo walked into the living room still in their outfits from the heist, immediately catching the eyes of the four.

The two struck a couple of poses with corny expressions, making the group laugh. DubChaeng took a seat next to Sana.

Jeongyeon, Momo, and Tzuyu were the last to return. Tzuyu had her arms slung over Jeongyeon and Momo’s shoulders as the three of them walked into the room with smiles on their faces.

“Welcome back guys!” Sana greeted them energetically.

“Since everything went according to plan, I’m calling this mission a success.”

Dahyun and Chaeyoung let out whoops as they exchanged hi-fives with the others.

Momo caught sight of a bandage on Mina’s hand, worry setting in her brows. “Are you alright Minari? What happened at the warehouse?”

“I’m fine.” Mina smiled at Momo, her hand came up to rest on her shoulder, “Just a little bruised. Kuma was a fitting name for him, is all.”

“I contacted my First Lieutenant earlier.” Sana began telling them. “We’ve secured all three locations and have already started stationing our troops there.”

She cheered on, “Officially, Kuma’s hold on them is no more. They’re now our territories!”

The others joined in on her cheering. Sana magically produce a couple of bottles of champagne out of nowhere.

“Let’s celebrate!”

“Alright! Now we’re getting somewhere!”

“WOOO!”

“Wait, Sana! Watch where you point that bottle!”

POP!

 

//

 


	10. the ghost of [christmas] past (Ryo of the East, part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the aftermath of Kuma's takedown and a part of 3mix's past comes back for a visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! i'm back! so sorry it took like a month to update but i've been busy with school. it's actually finals week but after this, i'll be FREE!  
> i've been writing chapter 4 in between work and school and life.  
> the word count for this is like 15k total :o i'll be splitting the chapter into several parts cause that's way too much lmao  
> a lot of development happened in this chapter and the story is slowly chugging along, i hope you guys enjoy! 
> 
> notes: a lil nsfw content in the beginning of the chapter but nothing too risque. it's more of an implication lol  
> i've shortened the word communicator in this chapter so it might come up as com or coms

04-1

//

 

Drumming, that’s what it was.

Not a pounding headache, more like a quiet drum march. A drum march that was beating against the back of her skull.

_Maybe I drank one too many bottles?_

Sana let out a tiny grumble as the drum march hit a series of high notes in the background of her thoughts. At least she had made it to her bed, the space beside her was occupied by two warm bodies.

_Wait… did Momo and Mina get… smaller??_

Sana still had her eyes closed as she tried to feel around the bed. The only problem was that her arms felt like they were being dragged by something else.

 

Slowly, Sana opened her eyes and blinked a few times.

_Ok, I’m still inside the estate… but this isn’t my room…_

She was under the blankets and in between two people, that’s for sure. Two _very_ warm people.

Sana let out a small but audible gasp.

_NO WAY… am I… naked!?!_

She picked up the blankets to see underneath and let out a soft but louder gasp.

_Oh my…_

She was indeed naked, along with the other two people.

 

As Sana moved the blankets to cover their bodies, a gleam against the sunlight caught her eye. She raised her hands again, pairs of handcuffs attached to both her wrists came into view, the end of them led to the wrists of the two bodies by her side.

_Oh._

It took a while for Sana to process.

_OH._

Sana attempted to remain calm, squished comfortably between two very naked bodies. Attempted was the word.

_Alright, calm down Sana. They’re still asleep, you have time to get out of this._

 

It was like the universe loved messing with Sana. Right as she finished her thought, the two bodies began to stir awake.

Her eyes widened and Sana panicked internally as she felt softness press into her.

The body on her left rolled over to face her, their non-handcuffed hand draped over Sana’s stomach as they pulled her closer. Sana still couldn’t see their face since it was buried in her shoulder.

The person on her right didn’t move much as they slowly woke up, still comfortable in their position with their back facing Sana.

As if sensing her panic, the hand on Sana’s stomach began stroking the soft skin beneath it. Sana was surprisingly comforted by the gentle touch, her form relaxing into the mattress.

 

“Have you calmed down now? I could hear you panicking in your thoughts.” The voice that spoke was husky from sleep but still filled with mirth as it filtered from the Sana’s left.

_Curse you, attractive husky voice!_

“Ah, heh heh… I guess so.”

“Do you remember last night or should I remind you?” The voice beside her chuckled, still amused at the whole situation.

Sana’s memories slowly filtered through, remembering everything that happened after she popped the first bottle of champagne.

“Ugh, I should have really stopped after the third bottle.” Sana groaned out softly, the hand on her stomach was still rubbing gently.

“No worries, drunk you is cute.”

 

Sana could now identify the voice behind her. It was none other than…

 

“Chaeyoungie, you should have never let Jeongyeon bait me into that drinking contest.” Sana whined at her, snuggling further into Chaeyoung’s hold.

“I dunno, things got pretty interesting after that.”

The voice came from the figure to the right of Sana this time, who turned around to face her.

Dahyun’s face came into view, a humorous smile etched on her face. “It was after the drinking contest that you pulled me and Chaeyoung together and tried to give both of us a lap dance at the same time.”

Chaeyoung and Dahyun giggled, “That’s right! Jeongyeon unnie turned on the music and everybody started dancing.”

Sana giggled along with them, “Did you see her face when Nayeon started dancing on her!”

The three laughed together and honestly, Sana felt as comfortable as when she was with Momo and Mina. She kept this revelation in the back of her mind, choosing to savor this moment instead. She’ll come back to that thought later, preferably by herself.

 

The laughter trailed off and a jingle caught Sana’s attention. “Uh… do you guys have the keys to these handcuffs? Wait, are these from your security disguises?”

“Yes, to both questions.” Chaeyoung laughed as she rummaged for the keys on the nightstand by her side. She leaned over the two as she unlocked the handcuff on her wrist and Dahyun’s wrist.

“Morning baby.” Chaeyoung cupped Dahyun’s jaw as the two exchanged a sweet morning kiss.

Dahyun snickered after the kiss, “You’re the baby here.”

Chaeyoung left Sana’s wrists still locked as she shared a glance with Dahyun, who immediately caught on, mischief danced in their eyes.

 

“Um.. Chaeng?” Sana nervously laughed, “What’s the hold up?”

Now free, Chaeyoung straddled Sana’s waist. Dahyun moved to handcuff both of Sana’s hands to the bed’s headboard before returning to hold Sana from the side, her hands already trailing over Sana.

Sana gasped at the double sensation upon her body, and at the fact that the blankets that covered them all had fallen down, revealing their _very_ toned and nude forms.

“We don’t have any plans this morning.” Chaeyoung smirked, “Let’s have a little more fun, just the three of us.”

Sana gulped as she looked between Chaeyoung and Dahyun, her heartbeat increased and her body grew warmer with each touch.

 

_Here lies Minatozaki Sana, who died because her gay ass couldn’t handle the two known as DubChaeng._

 

//

 

The television played in the living room, the sound of Saturday morning cartoons filling the space in the room and filtering to the open kitchen.

Tzuyu was on the couch, sitting cross-legged as she watched some old school cartoons. Momo was sprawled across Tzuyu’s lap, wrapped up in a blanket like a burrito. Only her face was visible.

Tzuyu had her arm resting on burrito-momo, occasionally patting… Momo’s stomach?... as she watched the TV.

Sounds coming from the kitchen echoed in the background, Tzuyu was aware but didn’t pay attention to it. A couple minutes later, Jeongyeon emerged from the kitchen with a bowl of cereal in hand.

She sat down next to Tzuyu, on the side that wasn’t occupied by burrito-momo, and handed her the bowl. Tzuyu took it with a smile, “Thanks.”

Jeongyeon nodded before looking down at burrito-momo with a soft smile. “You think she’s good like that?”

Tzuyu sniggered into her cereal, “Well, she did say she was cold last night.”

Jeongyeon laughed along as she snuggled into Tzuyu’s side and leaned her head onto Tzuyu’s shoulder.

The two sat in silence, feeling content as they watched Saturday morning cartoons together.

Including burrito-momo.

 

//

 

Nayeon groaned in relief as she stretched her arms high above her head. She let out a yawn, little tears springing to the corners of her eyes. She continued walking behind Jihyo and Mina before coming to an abrupt halt.

She felt a chill come over her all of a sudden. It felt as if there were eyes on her. She quickly looked around but didn’t see anyone or anything suspicious. The feeling was present for a couple more seconds before disappearing.

Nayeon had a bad feeling in her gut but she couldn’t do anything at the moment, she didn’t even know where it was coming from.

Mina noticed that Nayeon had stopped walking. “Hey, you alright?”

Mina’s voice shook Nayeon out of her search. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She wrapped her arms around herself and mustered a smile, “A bit of a chill is all.”

“Let’s get inside then, the sun should be high in the sky when we’re done here.” Jihyo waved her hand in a casual beckoning manner and the two resumed their pace behind her.

The three stepped into the supermarket, joining the morning crowd going about the start of their day.

 

//

 

A couple days had passed since the heist and the take down of Kuma. The Trinity Clan quickly moved as soon as Sana called. They sent and stationed clan members at each location that the girls took over, easing the transition of power back to the clan.

The revenue and the operations resumed under Mina’s control, where they actually improved under the advisement of the girls. Each person weighed in their own two cents when the matter involved their respective expertise.

Eventually after a discussion, the group decided that the next move was to go after the next Bridge Guardian and their assets. Each member went out and tried to find a hint of anything related to the Masked Oni.

Operations aside, the girls were doing fine. Between training, intel gathering, keeping tabs with their own groups, and getting to know more about the clan, everything was good.

 

Except for Nayeon.

 

Ever since that day in front of the supermarket, Nayeon always felt like she was being watched. She grew irritated and anxious about the matter as days passed. She still hasn’t told anyone about her issue yet, not wanting to alert anyone about it yet.

Nayeon was starting to get really annoyed. So, in between handling clan matters with the other members, she started hatching a plan to figure out who was creeping on her.

 

//

 

Nayeon strided down the corridor and descended the stairs, all the while looking for something. A pair of somebodies, actually.

“Hey! There you guys are.”

Nayeon called out, finally spotting what she was looking for in the living room. Dahyun and Chaeyoung looked up at the exclamation.

“Oh, unnie! What’s up?” Dahyun sat up from where she was laying down next to Chaeyoung, who lowered the volume of the tv as Nayeon approached.

“I have a bit of a problem on my hands.” Nayeon placed her hands on her hips and shifted her weight. “You guys mind helping me out?”

Dahyun and Chaeyoung exchanged curious looks before turning back to Nayeon.

“What did you have in mind?”

 

/

 

_“You know, when you said you needed help, I didn’t think it’d be this.”_

“It’s the only thing that came to mind!” Nayeon spoke quietly into her ear piece. “I still don’t know what I’m dealing with here so… think of it as a necessary precaution.”

 

Nayeon’s plan apparently involved Dahyun and Chaeyoung hiding atop the roofs of the building across from where she was. She gave them cameras and binoculars and told them to watch for anything suspicious.

_“Still. This is kinda creepy. How long has this been going on unnie?”_

“A few days, ever since me, Mina, and Jihyo went to the supermarket to restock the fridge and the pantry.” Nayeon was browsing the wares at the local bookstore, trying to act casual.

_“And you’re ok? This stranger hasn’t made a move, right?”_

“No, they haven’t done anything except creeped the shit out of me.” Nayeon frowned heavily as she flipped the pages of the book in her hands.

 

Like before, Nayeon felt the chilling sensation of eyes watching her. Her grip on the book tightened as she tried to remain calm. “They’re here. I can feel it.”

_“Alright unnie, stay casual. We’re scanning the surroundings near you.”_

Nayeon heard a bit of shuffling through her communicator.

_“Over there! The guy on the bench.”_

_“Ok unnie, we got eyes on him. Make sure you exit after a while. We’ll stay on him.”_

Nayeon hummed in reply, acting according to Dahyun’s instructions. A few minutes passed by.

She made her way out of the bookstore and walked in the direction of the car the three of them used.

_“Ok, I need you to get in and drive around the block. We’ll see what his next move is.”_

She got in the car and drove off. The silence in the car only made Nayeon anxious as she waited for either Dahyun or Chaeyoung’s response. She jumped slightly when her com crackled in her ear.

_“He’s gone, left as soon as you disappeared from view.”_

Nayeon let out a sigh and tried to calm her nerves.

_“Come pick us up. We got a photo of him.”_

She drove back around the block and stopped in front of the building DubChaeng were in. Chaeyoung walked out of the building’s door, Dahyun trailing behind her. The two of them quickly got in the car, Dahyun in the shotgun seat and Chaeyoung in the back.

Dahyun brought Nayeon’s attention to the photograph she was holding in her hands. “We managed to catch his face when he turned. Do you recognize him?”

Nayeon’s eyes landed on the photo and her face grew pale.

“No… it can’t be!”

 

/

 

It was calm back in the Trinity estate. Or, it was as calm as it could be for one of the bases of the Trinity Clan.

Jeongyeon was sitting at the table in the kitchen, watching Tzuyu and Mina play chess with rapt attention. Her laptop was in front of her, the screen shifting rapidly as data streamed in and out.

Sana sat on top of the kitchen counter, her attention was split between the chess match and Momo who was standing in between her legs. Momo leaned back into Sana, relaxed as Sana’s hand threaded through her hair.  

 

The front door slamming open caught everyone off guard, some even visibly jumped. Heavy footsteps were heard followed by a shuffling sound.

“W-wait, unnie…!”

Nayeon stormed into the kitchen, her eyes blazed with a fire and her eyebrows deeply knitted. She threw down the photograph onto the table so hard that the paper made a loud smacking sound when it landed.

“I found the guy we’re looking for.” Erratic and angry breaths were coming out of Nayeon. She drew in a sharp breath to calm herself before growling out, “The East Bridge Guardian.”

That part put everyone on alert, if they weren’t already from Nayeon’s entrance.

 

Jihyo came running in, sliding to a halt under the open kitchen’s threshold. “What happened?! I heard loud noises.”

Chaeyoung stumbled into the kitchen, holding up Dahyun who looked like stars were currently circling above her head. Jihyo looked at the two of them, taken back by their disheveled appearance. “What happened to you two?”

Chaeyoung was gasping for breath and tried to respond at the same time. “N-never… get in… a car w-with… an angry Nayeon…”

Dahyun could only mumble in agreement, her head was still spinning from Nayeon’s reckless driving. She accepted Jihyo’s help in moving her to a seat.

_And I thought me and Chaeng were the crazy drivers!_

 

Jeongyeon stood and approached Nayeon, gently reaching out for her shoulder. “What’s the deal with this guy?”

Nayeon turned immediately, her eyes softened at the sight of Jeongyeon but her tone was still hard. “See for yourself.”

Jeongyeon picked up the photo, trying to see what got Nayeon all worked up. As soon as she saw the content, she knew exactly why Nayeon was so worked up. She put the photo back down before rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Fucking hell…”

The others were now _extremely_ curious to see who was on the photo to make Nayeon and Jeongyeon react like that.

Jihyo took the photo, letting out a deep sigh when she saw who was on it. She passed the photo to the others to give them a chance to look. She turned to Nayeon and Jeongyeon only to see worry and anger marring their faces. “Take it easy, you two. We’ll handle things like we always have.”

 

Everyone got a good look at the photo; it was of a man in a hoodie, part of his face was obscured but his features were recognizable. There was a jagged scar that marked one of his cheeks horizontally. He looked to be the same age as Jeongyeon. He displayed no emotion on his face except for his eyes; they looked rather cold.

“I’m assuming he has a past with you three.” Mina looked up from the photo in her hand, “And not a good one. What exactly did he do?”

Jeongyeon grit her teeth and crossed her arms as she stared down at her feet. Nayeon adopted a frown on her face as her rage boiled down to a quiet and angry sadness. Jihyo sighed at their reactions before deciding to tell the others the reason, seeing as the two couldn’t.

“His name is Tokugawa Ryo.” She started, “I believe he’s with the Masked Oni gang and their East Bridge Guardian, as Nayeon found out.”

 

Jihyo took a seat before continuing, the others made themselves comfortable as she divulged into a part of their past.

“We meet him a couple of years ago, just a short while after the three of us started getting our names known.”

Jihyo paused, trying to recollect her memory. “To be honest, I didn’t really interact with him much; I was rather busy with my own contracts. Jeongyeon and Nayeon knew him more than I did.”

“It was at an underground bar when we first met him. One of those neutral grounds that the underworld provides.”

“He was a hacker and he knew his way around all sorts of security systems. His specialty lied in blackmailing, where he made a good amount of money from.”

“Nayeon and Jeongyeon were gathering intel for a certain score they had their eye on. Turns out, he also had his eye on the same score. He introduced himself and suggested an alliance. They didn’t see any harm from it, plus his skills gave him a good standing for the job.”

“After they took the score successfully, the two kept in contact with Ryo in case any future jobs popped up. Cue a couple more scores later and the two considered Ryo as a friend if not a competent business partner.”

 

“I guess we should have seen the signs. Jennie was actually the first to voice her concern. Ryo didn’t make the… most _ethical_ decisions whenever we were on a heist.” Nayeon finally said something after her silence.

“He made some pretty twisted decisions, even for a criminal.”

“The point of no return was a job involving an independent company dealing in illegal firearms and explosives. The company was selling to several crime organizations and governments.” Nayeon scoffed, “Should have known nothing good comes from dealing with any sort of government.”

 

“Ryo was acting kinda distant and standoffish when we were preparing to move out. We were too busy sending Jihyo off to notice anything really.” Jeongyeon took over telling the story.

“Turns out, Ryo made a deal with one of the government agencies for our capture. It didn’t work out seeing as he ended up double-crossing everybody involved.”

“We managed to escape but…,” Jeongyeon’s voice trailed off before she picked up the strength to continue. “One of our teams sacrificed themselves so that we could get away. They used the explosives as a distraction but the crossfire ended up being too much. He also managed to shoot Lisa in the leg during the chaos to intentionally slow us down. She almost didn’t make it… there was so much blood loss.”

 

Nayeon took over the storytelling now. “We had to lay low a few days after, the heat was coming from every direction. It made a ripple in the underworld actually, everyone was talking about ‘The Great Fire of Kong Munitions’.”

The name of the incident managed to spark a little recognition in everyone’s mind.

“Our team went on a man hunt when the heat died down. We made a call to almost all of our contacts. After two weeks, we managed to close in on him. We were about to make a move when Ryo contacted us.” Nayeon glanced at Jihyo before continuing.

“He threatened to leak Jihyo’s location during one of her missions. I didn’t doubt her abilities but… we had already lost one of our teams and we were panicking about Lisa… we couldn’t even risk the thought of losing Jihyo.”

“So… we had no choice but to back down and let him slip away.”

 

“That’s not even the worst of it!” Jeongyeon angrily remarked, “The bastard leaked Jihyo’s location anyways!”

Jihyo squeezed Jeongyeon’s hand in a reassuring gesture. “Luckily, I had already took care of my mark. Granted, the local authorities were alerted faster than I had anticipated but I managed to slip out unnoticed, without any harm.”

“After that, we lost all sighting of Ryo. No name drops, no activity, no trace of him, nothing. He never resurfaced…”

“...Until today.”

There was a lull in the conversation as the retelling ended. Everyone was quiet as they processed the events that the trio went through.

 

“I think,” Mina started out just as everyone finished collecting their thoughts. “The three of you should take the lead on this mission.”

Mina’s fingers tapped on the table in a trivial manner as her mind raced with thoughts of their next move. “Ultimately, I’d like you guys to take charge on this one. It feels right that way.”

“You have the advantage of your previous experience with this Tokugawa Ryo.” Her finger taps migrated from the table to her cheek.

Jihyo spoke up, a hint of worry bleeding into her tone. “Unfortunately, it’s a double-edged sword because he’s worked with Jeongyeon and Nayeon before.”

A frown appeared on Mina’s face. Jihyo did have a point, this is _definitely_ gonna bring up some old wounds for them for sure.

“Yes, but it’s been… what, a couple years ago? I’m sure they have some new tricks up their sleeves, right?” Tzuyu grinned a charming smile as she nudged Jeongyeon playfully, trying to infect the others with some positivity. Tzuyu swung her arm around Jeongyeon’s shoulder when she finally cracked a smile. “Besides. He’ll be up against all of us. I’m sure that’ll be a first for him.”

Mina’s smile came back as she softly exclaimed. “Yes!”

She continued on as her hands shifted into an eager grip on the table. It was always something about getting justice or revenge that managed to get her fired up.

“Alright, it’s time to gather some more intel. I don’t think he knows that we know who he is yet. We got the drop on him for now, let’s keep it that way.”

Mina stood up, signaling an end to the impromptu meeting. “We’ll regroup in a couple of days. Do what you need to do but stay safe.”

 

//

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> any writing advice or questions, please feel free to let me know! :)


	11. electric bunnies and plain boring office buildings (Ryo of the East, part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeongyeon has a thing for secret hideouts and NaSaTzu have their lunch interrupted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hellooo! back with an update. I got another story in the works, plot bunnies attacked me out of nowhere lol. i'll be switching between writing for that wip and this. hope you enjoy the update! :)
> 
> quick note, i'll be going back to edit some of the chapter titles. i decided to change them into small funny + witty titles that fit the chapters. or i'll try to be funny anyways lol

04-2

//

 

Jeongyeon leaned against the wall of an alleyway, her stance seemingly casual as she waited for a pair of racers. She stared out at the throngs of people roaming the streets. They were most likely looking for some fun on a weekend night.

Although she remained quiet, her mind was racing with thoughts about a certain ghost. Her hand twitched, eager to carry out her plotting.

 

Jeongyeon was shaken out of her thoughts when Dahyun and Chaeyoung popped up out of nowhere.

“Ahh!” Jeongyeon shrieked at their sudden appearance. Her hand flew up to her chest. “What the hell, guys!”

“Pftt, I’m so glad I got that on camera!” Dahyun laughed boisterously as she held her phone up.

Chaeyoung merely giggled along. She held a pair of cupcakes in her hands, one was half eaten already. She offered Jeongyeon the other cupcake, “Wanm whmm?”

“What?”

“She said, ‘Want one’?” Dahyun translated.

“Oh.” Jeongyeon blinked, not even questioning how Dahyun understood that. “Nah, I’m good.”

Chaeyoung shrugged before taking another bite. Dahyun grinned at her cute little puffed cheeks before turning to Jeongyeon. “So, what did you call us out here for?” She looked around and wrinkled her nose. “And in an alley, no less.”

 

Jeongyeon turned on her heel, beckoning them to follow with a wave of her hand. “C’mon, we’re here to pick up some of my supplies.”

Dahyun and Chaeyoung looked at each other.

“Hmm mphm mhmhay?”

Dahyun smiled softly as she put a finger to Chaeyoung’s lips, hushing her in the process. “You’re cute Chaeng, but don’t talk with your mouth full.”

Dahyun moved to follow Jeongyeon, Chaeyoung trailed behind them with a blush on her cheeks.

Chaeyoung spoke up after finally swallowing her food, “So _where_ in this alley are we getting supplies from… it’s not in a dumpster, is it?” She eyed the alley’s dumpsters warily.

“No, it isn’t.” Jeongyeon bit her lip as she imagined the two dumpster diving, trying really hard to conceal her laughter.

 _The dumpster would just swallow you guys whole._  

 

She stopped in front of a shop. DubChaeng exchanged a confused look. The sign above the door read: ‘Computer Repairs & Accessories’.

The inside of the shop was of an average size, reminding Dahyun of a hole-in-the-wall cafe that Chaeyoung once took her to. (Dahyun loved every side of Chaeyoung. Even her hipster ass taste in midnight coffee.)

Everything seemed normal to her. Not a thing out of place.

Jeongyeon stepped up to the counter as the two waited slightly behind her.

 

“Welcome, how can I help you?” The employee asked plainly. His eyes scanned the two behind Jeongyeon before returning to her.

“I’m looking for a mod,” Jeongyeon leaned her arm against the counter. “ _Electric Bunny_.”

There was silence as the employee processed the words. The hum of the air-con unit was the only sound for a brief moment.

Then the employee bowed his head, “Of course, right this way Boss.” He led the three of them to the back of the store and pointed to a door.

“Thanks.” Jeongyeon said as he left. She rapped her knuckles on the door and stepped back.

A scanner appeared from the top of the door. Dahyun and Chaeyoung were alarmed, their bodies jerking towards cover before Jeongyeon stopped them. “Relax, it’s just a security measure of mine.”

The scanner beeped and flashed a green light as the sounds of locks unlocking hissed. The door slid open, revealing a set of descending stairs.

“Let’s go, we’re finally here.”

 

The two let Jeongyeon take the lead, seeing as this was clearly her territory. The sounds of cheering and glass clinking grew as the three descended the stairs. The end of the staircase gave way to the basement floor. Only, it didn’t look like the basement of a computer shop. It was more like a modern lounge bar.

“ _What_.”

“Weren’t we just in an _alley_?”

Jeongyeon chuckled at their stunned faces. “Welcome to one of the many District 89’s.”

“Let’s take a seat and I’ll explain.”

They got comfy at a table, Jeongyeon waved at the bartender who brought over some drinks.

(Dahyun’s drink was just water. The two racers made a promise a long time ago. They never let the other drink whenever one of them was driving. Which ended up being most of the time.

One time, Dahyun forgot and Chaeyoung slapped her drink right outta her hand. Needless to say, Dahyun spent that night on the couch with Yeri. She never broke the promise again.)

“Here you go, Boss.”

Jeongyeon nodded her thanks.

“So…”

“So…,” Dahyun picked up, “Boss?”

“What is this place?” Chaeyoung continued to look around in wonder.

 

“District 89.” Jeongyeon took a sip of her drink. “I named it after… the team that helped me and Nayeon escape from… you know.”

Dahyun and Chaeyoung raised their glasses, “Cheers to them, yeah?” The three clinked glasses before taking a swing. Dahyun and Chaeyoung knew how much the team meant to Jeongyeon, having witness her emotional state at the impromptu meeting earlier.

“This… space. It’s a neutral trading ground, meant for the promotion and advancement of technology.”

Jeongyeon looked around the bar scene as if reminiscing. “Through legal or illegal means, it doesn’t matter. All sorts of organizations visit the Districts, even government agencies. Sometimes, red tape is placed for safety. Other times, they just limit our potential.”

“This is only one of the many districts that I established around the globe. All the districts are synonymous in name and purpose but they differ in location and style. This one  is more sophisticated in terms of décor.”

“Huh. So _that’s_ why they call you Boss around here then.”

 

The three took a moment to relax as they observed the lounge. Jeongyeon was still amused at the sight of Dahyun and Chaeyoung’s awe-stricken faces.

Chaeyoung turned back after getting a good look around. “So, you mentioned something about supplies?”

Jeongyeon took a more serious demeanor at the mention, “Yes, follow me.” She got to her feet and headed to the door behind the bar.

“We keep the tech and any related funds in the back. The bar is like a meeting ground.” Jeongyeon gestured to the tables full of technology, some a little more experimental-looking than others. Next to them were racks of weapons, ranging from melee weapons to long-range sniper rifles. She pointed to a set of rooms with see-through doors.

“Any trading happens in a secure bulletproof room in there. We have armed guards stationed in and outside the room to ensure that the deal goes through with a non-bias third-party present.”

 

Jeongyeon came to a stop in front of a table. Dahyun and Chaeyoung moved to either side of her.

“What’s this?” Dahyun picked up a smooth, round metal ball.

“ _T_ _hat_ , is a sticky grenade.” Jeongyeon laughed as Dahyun placed it down quickly, her eyes wide in panic.

“Relax, it can only be detonated with a remote. Which is off at the moment.”

“Weapons? We’re picking up weapons?” Chaeyoung asked as she picked up a very shiny pistol.

“Yup.” Jeongyeon picked up a shotgun and cocked it before looking down the barrel. “I’m planning on getting rid of the bastard once and for all… but not before making him suffer.”

“Ooooo, is that what these are for?” Dahyun asked, waving around a pair of machetes and making ‘shing-shing’ noises with every swing.

Chaeyoung giggled at her antics. Jeongyeon grinned back, “Possibly.”

Jeongyeon swung the shotgun over her shoulder and grabbed a couple boxes of ammo sitting nearby. “Grab what you want, the staff already loaded up what I requested.”

 

//

 

“Ya’know, this isn’t how I imagined I’d be spending my free time.” Tzuyu said as she was crouched down behind a wall.

“Shh!” Nayeon shushed her as she peeked around the corner.

“Me neither.” Sana whispered beside Tzuyu. “We were just getting lunch too!”

“Well, we were lucky one of those goons had a big mouth when we were in line.” Nayeon continued spying on the goon walking farther away. “C’mon! He’s turning the corner.”

The three made their way down the path that the goon took, as inconspicuous as they possibly could be.

“Ok, I think he’s heading into that building there.”

 

Tzuyu craned her neck up at the building. It was a multi-story building and it looked like a corporate office. She whistled at the sight and said, “Security looks tight. You said he was a hacker, right?”

“Yeah.” Nayeon nodded grimly, “No doubt the security will be tricky.”

Sana looked at the two beside her, “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s break in!”

Nayeon looked alarmed at her suggestion. “Wha- Right now? It’s lunch time! There’s still people out!”

“And? It’ll be the same outcome no matter the time.” Sana walked off towards the building like she didn’t have a care in the world.

 

With an exasperated look, Nayeon turned back to Tzuyu who could only grin and shrug her shoulders. The two caught up to Sana who was halfway to the building before she stopped.

“Let’s round the building; the back door would be a more discreet method.”

The three pretended like they were taking a stroll. As soon as they were near the alley between the buildings, they dashed in.

“Wait.” Sana stopped them midway. Right now, they were still in the alley between the big corporate-looking office and an average shophouse.

Sana peeked around the corner, scanning the back entrance. “Ok, there’s no guards posted outside but there’s a security camera pointed at the door.” She shifted her stance, trying to find a different way in that wouldn’t risk their detection. She racked her brain but couldn’t find a route inside. “I don’t think we’re equipped enough to handle this kind of job.”

Nayeon nodded, feeling relieved. “Let’s come back after hours. It’ll be easier that way.”

 

/

 

Night came quickly and Nayeon’s confidence grew as the three of them were now back and properly equipped for the job.

“Alright, first things first, communicator check.” Chaeyoung said as she sat behind the wheel of the van they were all in. Dahyun fiddled with the radio box, tuning the frequency knob until it was set up properly.

Apparently, Sana managed to rope the duo into being their getaway drivers after they came back with Jeongyeon. Nayeon could see her point, that _was_ in their job description anyways.

“All good!”

Nayeon turned to Sana and Tzuyu. “Here’s the plan; we sneak in, hack whatever intel we can, and get out before anyone even notices us.”

Sana and Tzuyu nodded in acknowledgement. “Let’s move out then. Chaeng, Dubu, radio us if anything looks suspicious on the outside.”

“You got it!”

 

The three climbed out from the rear doors. The van was parked in the same alley from earlier. Sana took the lead and retraced her way over to the corner of the alley.

She peeked around and set her eyes on the same security camera. “Well, what are we gonna do about the camera?”

Nayeon’s eyes flicked around the area. “Looks like it’s just the camera; the cables are being fed into the building. Tzuyu, you’re tall enough to reach the back of the camera. Go ahead and yank out the connecting wires, that’ll cut the feed.”

Tzuyu stuck to the wall to avoid the camera’s area of vision. She disconnected the wires with ease. She waved the other two over when it was clear.

Sana tried opening the door but it was locked. She took out a lockpick and began picking the lock, her tongue stuck out in concentration. About 25 seconds passed before a click was heard and the three quickly snuck into the building.

 

From there, they entered an empty hallway. The walls were a plain white, the furniture were a plain black, etc., it looked like a typical and boring office building. The hallway lights were on but it was dim as it was after work hours.

The green light of the emergency exit sign washed over their figures as they snuck down the hallway. After moving a couple meters, the hallway opened up to the lobby.

The desk of the receptionist stood between them and the doors of the front entrance. Sitting in a swivel chair was a night guard, dozing off in front of the security camera monitors.

Nayeon surveyed the ground floor before pointing to a set of stairs. She moved her hand in a tip-toeing gesture. They snuck over to the stairs and climbed up to the next floor.

Tzuyu cracked opened the door to the second floor silently and poked her head out. She was met with the sight of rows of cubicles. They moved in a crouch, with Tzuyu in the lead.

_Cubicles mean there has to be a supervisor for this area. There’s got to be something in the manager’s office._

Tzuyu led them around the cubicles, sticking to the walls until she saw a large office. They made their way inside and began rifling through the desk and the cabinets.

“No dice.” Tzuyu shook her head and whispered as the search came up empty. Sana pointed a finger upwards and the other two agreed to move to the third floor.

 

/

 

“You got a three?”

“Go fish.” Chaeyoung chuckled.

Dahyun grumbled and dramatically grabbed another card from the pile. She scanned the area before turning back to the game.

“You got a seven?”

 

/

 

Another set of plain white-walled corridors. Instead of cubicles, the third floor consisted of meeting rooms and general office units.

“Check inside the rooms. There has to be _something_ here.” Nayeon whispered before setting off to the nearest door.

They went around opening door after door. The result was the same, nothing of interest.

 

Sana heard a heavy set of footsteps approaching. She knew it wasn’t the other two because they were all being quiet. Also, the footsteps sounded like boots; they were all wearing flat sneakers. Realizing what the sound meant, Sana hissed out a warning. “Quick, hide! Patrol incoming!”

Each member quickly stepped into a room and closed the door. Sana hid under a desk in the room she was in. Tzuyu crouched under the window in the room she was hiding in. Nayeon had hidden herself in a supply closet and held onto the door knob tightly.

There was a light as the guard waved his flashlight around, scanning the corridor as he walked further along. A couple minutes passed as the guard’s footsteps echoed down the corridor.

Nayeon’s heart was beating rather fast, from the nervousness and adrenaline of the whole situation. It increased as she saw the light growing brighter under the crack of the door she was bracing behind. She could feel her muscles tensing up.

It felt like forever before the guard moved on. His flashlight bobbed along as he made his way downstairs to continue his patrol. A sweat drop slid down Nayeon’s forehead, she relaxed when she no longer saw a peek of light from under the door.

“Anyone got eyes on the corridor? Is the guard gone?”

Tzuyu peeked up over the edge of the office window, her eyes flicking left and right. “It’s all clear. I think I heard him heading downstairs.”

Sana emerged from the room she was hiding in, “Ok, let’s continue our way up then.”

 

On to the fourth floor.

It was a bust.

Now they were on the fifth floor.

As soon as they stepped foot on the fifth floor, Nayeon had a gut feeling this was it. “Do you guys hear that?”

Sana and Tzuyu stopped and listened. “Yeah, sounds like… a hum?”

Tzuyu nodded, “Yeah, like the whirling of a fan. Either we’ve found the air-con units or their computer servers.”

Sana laughed quietly, “Let’s hope it’s the latter.”

Nayeon headed towards the sound of the hum, the other two trailing behind her. From the loudness of the sound, it had to be a couple dozen servers.

She stopped in front of a door in the middle of the corridor. The sound was coming from here. Nayeon opened the door and was greeted with a glow of blue lights.

“Jackpot!”

 

They had found the server room. Nayeon was about to barrel into the room before she was yanked backwards.

“Oof!”

Nayeon looked back to see Sana’s surprised face and Tzuyu holding onto to her. Tzuyu’s eyes were narrowed at the door frame.

Tzuyu looked down apologetically, “Sorry for being so rough but…” She took out a compact mirror and a special flashlight. Reflecting the light onto the mirror, she adjusted her grip so that the mirror was facing the inside of the server room.

“There we go.” The reflection revealed red lasers placed everywhere in the room.

“Man, that could have turned out bad.” Nayeon wiped her forehead in relief.

Sana inspected the laser grid as close as she could without triggering it, “Any way we can shut it down?”

Tzuyu’s eyes darted around, noticing wires from the computer servers going into the ground. She flashed the light over them. “The power supply is near, judging by these cables.”

“Let’s spread out and check the rest of the floor.”

 

The girls split up. So far, there wasn’t much progress. The rooms they opened were just plain office rooms. About 10 minutes had passed before they could find anything.

Sana ran down the corridor. “C’mon, it’s gotta be here somewhere.” She skidded to a stop outside another door before opening it. “Aha! I found the power supply!”

Sana spoke into her ear piece as she entered. There were three generators inside the room. A bunch of bundled cables and wires connected them to some levers mounted on the wall. “Guys, I’m in the generator room. There’s a few levers here; I’m going to pull some so let me know if the grid shuts down.”

_“Copy that. We’ll be on standby outside the server room.”_

Sana examined the labels on the levers but they were all obscure symbols with no words to identify them. She didn’t know which one to pull. What if one of them was a trap and an alarm would ring once she pulled it down?

Sana knew she had to pick one soon, they couldn’t stay and risk the chance of being caught just cause she was dawdling. Trusting in her gut, Sana picked the lever with the blue shaped label and pulled the lever down.

“I pulled a lever. _Please_ tell me it worked.”

_“Hold on, something’s happening to the grid.”_

_“I think it worked! Nice job, Sana! Come back over.”_

Sana grinned in triumph. She exited the room and made sure to close the door before making her way back to the others.

 

Nayeon and Tzuyu looked up as Sana came around the corner. Sana got pats on her shoulder before they entered the server room together. The servers were set up in horizontal lines, each one facing the door.

Nayeon took out a small device with a USB cable and plugged it into one of the servers. “Take what you can. We’ve already wasted enough time bumbling around on the lower floors.”

Sana and Tzuyu did the same as Nayeon with their own small devices. The lights on the devices lit up as soon as they plugged in. Sana turned on the nearby computer that was attached to the main server tower and began searching through its files. Tzuyu kept a lookout as Nayeon pulled out hard drives from the data server racks, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

A few minutes passed and the data being downloaded was almost ready. Sana seemed satisfied in her search as she already moved the files of interest to a separate USB stick. Tzuyu radioed Chaeyoung, “Hey, get ready to go. We got the data.”

_“Copy that.”_

 

As soon as the devices beeped, they disconnected them and ran out the room.

Sana turned her body in a different direction, “I’m gonna go turn the power to the grid back on. That way, security won’t think anything happened to the servers.” The other two nodded and the three split.

Nayeon moved quickly while still in a crouch, heading towards a set of windows facing the side of the building. “Let’s hurry and get out of this place!”

She opened the window and looked down. The van was directly below them. “Pass me the rope.”

Tzuyu handed her a thick rope and attached the other end to a carabiner clip, clipping it to the support beam of the frame. “It’s secure, go ahead.” She then handed her a climbing harness.

Nayeon went first. She clipped the carabiner to the rope and her harness and rappelled down the side of the building. Sana came back after a few minutes and followed after her. When the two reached the ground, Tzuyu unclipped the carabiners and threw the rope down to them.

 

Tzuyu took a deep breath before hauling herself through the window. She gripped the window’s frame tightly as she turned her body around. Now her body was on the outside, hanging on the side of the building. Tzuyu closed the window from the outside, removing evidence of any intrusion, before climbing downwards. Luckily, the building had protruding window sills and ledges on the outside. She used those as hand and foot holds during her descent.

Nayeon loaded all of their equipment into the back of the van as Chaeyoung sat in the driver’s seat, engine on and ready to go at a moment’s notice. Sana and Dahyun stood together with their necks stretched upwards, their arms were in the air and ready to catch Tzuyu if she fell. Luckily, she made it down safely and the two let out a sweet sigh of relief.

They all climbed into the van and closed the doors.

“Let’s go! But stay discreet, we’re not out of the woods just yet.”

Chaeyoung shifted the gear before driving out of the alley. She drove carefully but swiftly. It was dark but still early enough for people to be out for a night in town.

The traffic light turned red and the van stopped at an intersection. The girls were conversing in the back, Chaeyoung’s eyes drifted around as she waited for the light to change. The light turned green and she stepped on the pedal.

 

A glint of metal caught Chaeyoung’s eye just as the van crossed into the intersection. Right at that moment, a pair of motorcycles drove past the van.

Chaeyoung felt as if time slowed down.

She turned her head towards the pair and her eyes widened slowly as she caught sight of the motorcycles’ design; it was the same logo that was on the building that the girls broke into.

“Shit.” Chaeyoung huffed under her breath as she turned her eyes back to the road. She had a nagging feeling in her gut.

 _There’s_ no way _the girls left any trace… it must be a coincidence…_

 

After visibly deliberating for a couple of seconds, Chaeyoung decided to trust in her instincts. “You guys might wanna hang on, we’re taking a detour!”

Chaeyoung spun the wheel rapidly, turning the van into a different direction at the next intersection. She sped down the road, making turns left and right, trying to throw off whoever might take an interest in a nondescript van.

“Dahyun! I need you to keep an eye on the rear.”

“I’m on it!” Dahyun kept her eyes on the side mirror. In her lap, she was loading a Glock 18C pistol. It was actually a 3-round burst handgun that Chaeyoung got for her birthday. She pulled the slide back, fed the magazine into the slot, and pulled the slide back again to release it. With her freshly loaded gun, Dahyun kept watch on the rear.

The girls in the back, unfortunately, didn’t have seat belts so they were being thrown like rag dolls with every turn.

“Arghh, Tzuyu your elbow!”

“Oww! My ribs!”

“Get your ass off my spine! - _wheeze_ \- You’re gonna snap it!!”

 

After a couple more turns and u-turns, Chaeyoung tucked the van into one of those public multi-level parking garages and turned off the engine. She killed the lights and shushed everyone on board. “Keep quiet and see if anyone is tailing us.”

Chaeyoung and Dahyun ducked low in their seats, the girls in the back also kept a low profile by laying flat.

“Guys! Can one of you message Jeongyeon?” Chaeyoung whispered to the girls while she was still ducking low. “Tell her it’s a Code 7. We need to get back to HQ. She can scramble the traffic lights, turn the grid in our favor.”

“I’m already on it.” Nayeon swiftly tapped out a message on her phone. “And sent.”

 

A few minutes of silence passed.

 

In the distance of the nearby street, the roar of motorcycle engines was heard as they traveled down the road where the van was previously last seen. Several headlights flashed past the entrance of the parking garage, the pair of motorcycles Chaeyoung had seen earlier turned into a pack of riders. Fortunately, the motor pack continued their search in the opposite direction of where the van was hidden.

A ding broke the silence aboard the van.

“She’s on it. Already tracking our location and ready when you are.”

Chaeyoung nodded and smiled a wicked grin. “I hope you guys are ready for the ride of your lives.”

“Oh my.” Dahyun tightened her seatbelt and gave the girls a gleeful smile. “Buckle up, ladies!”

 

“With WHAT?!”

As soon as the words left Sana’s mouth, Chaeyoung turned the engine back on and peeled out of the garage. The van bumped and rocked as they hit the road, speeding down the street and criss-crossing intersections. Once again, the girls in the back were thrown like stuffed toys.

The van rocketed down the streets, driving way past the city speed limits. The traffic lights that they passed were all coincidently green, no doubt the work of Jeongyeon. After a while of driving and bodies flailing in the back seats, the van reached the familiar territory of the docks.

Chaeyoung drove them past the actual dockyard and into the warehouse area. She pressed a button on a remote and one of the doors of their warehouse started to slide open.

 

Seulgi’s figure appeared when the doors were fully opened. She was wielding a shotgun in her hands as Chaeyoung drove the van slowly into The Pit.

Chaeyoung and Dahyun hopped out of the van and Seulgi greeted them. “Thank goodness I recognized the van. For a second, I thought it was an intruder.”

“I made sure to lose any tail before heading back here.” Chaeyoung greeted her unnie. “You might want to keep an eye out for a pack of motorcycles. They’re the same bunch that came from the office we broke into.”

“A pack of riders, huh.” Seulgi made a mental note of it as she nodded her head. “I’ll be on the lookout.”

 

Meanwhile, Dahyun opened the doors to the back of the van, revealing Sana, Nayeon, and Tzuyu in a heap of limbs looking very dazed. Their clothes and hair were disheveled from the rough ride. Dahyun laughed at the sight of them, finding it so hilarious that she whipped out her phone to take pictures.

“Urgh… why aren’t there... seatbelts… in the back…”

Chaeyoung and Seulgi laughed along with Dahyun before helping the three out of the van. Tzuyu was steady as she got to her feet. The same couldn’t be said for Sana, who was still a bit disorientated. Tzuyu gently held Sana until she wasn’t feeling woozy anymore.

Nayeon held her head as she tried to get the room to stop spinning. She tried to tell the others something. “We should… get back to… HQ and… urgh… relay the data we took.”

Chaeyoung chuckled lightly at Nayeon, finding the sight of her unnie adorable as she tried to snap out of her woozy state.

 

“We’ll head back as soon as you guys are feeling better.” Dahyun grinned and pointed over to the couches. “In the meantime, let’s decode the data you guys found. No doubt, they’re encrypted.”

Chaeyoung took Nayeon’s hand and guided her to the couch. Pushing her gently into the seat, Chaeyoung turned around and walked off. “I’ll get you guys some pocari sweat water.”

Tzuyu let go of Sana as she was feeling fine now. She got a grateful smile in return from Sana, unknowingly stunning her briefly because _how_ can someone look _that_ good when they were just being flung around in the back of a van. Sana giggled before turning to hand the data devices over to Dahyun.

Dahyun took them in her small baby hands and passed it to Seulgi. “Give these to Yeri and Joy. Get them to crack the security and find out what this office is hiding.”

Seulgi nodded and walked off to carry out the request.

 

Chaeyoung returned with a tray of glasses and one Wendy. She passed out the drinks as Wendy said, “Yo! Need me to stash the van?”

Dahyun gave a passing glance at the van. “Nah, I think we’ll be needing it for later. Keep it here for now.” Almost as an afterthought, she added, “Maybe check the brakes and the tires? Chaeng took it a bit rough when we were escaping.”

“Sure, boss! I’ll take a look at it.” Wendy hopped off the armrest of the couch and ambled over to the van. She bent down to take a look at the tires. At that moment, Irene walked into the garage area.

“Oh! Joohyun, just in time. Can you check out the brakes for me?”

“Sure. Normal wear and tear?”

“Yup! If you consider Chaeyoung’s driving normal.”

“Ahh. So, _super_ wear and tear then.”

While the two checked over the van, Dahyun turned back to the others. “Yeri and Joy are handling the decryption at the moment. For now, let’s take a breather.”

And with that, she sunk into the soft couch.

 

/

 

Dahyun woke up in a groggy state. All she could recognize was warmth. Opening her eyes a little more, she saw that she was still on the couch.

A familiar tv set and coffee table was in front of her. Little trinkets and other paraphernalia decorated the furniture; they were small items that the crew accumulated over their years of travel and missions.

_Must have fallen asleep._

Dahyun looked around. No wonder she was warm, she was squished between Chaeyoung and Sana on the couch.

_Guess we all took a nap._

She turned a head a little more and saw Tzuyu who was awake. Nayeon was asleep and resting her head on Tzuyu’s shoulder as they sat on the other couch. Tzuyu gave her a smile when she realized that Dahyun was now awake.

“Don’t worry, it hasn’t been long. I guess we were all tired from earlier. You can sleep for a little while more.”

Dahyun merely nodded in response, she felt way too comfortable between her two human heaters to attempt to do anything else. She relaxed, falling back into a warm and sleepy haze.

 

/

 

When Dahyun woke up again, the others were awake this time. Tzuyu, once again, was the first to notice that she was awake. “Hey, I think we’re good to go now. Chaeng said something about the heat dying down from those riders.”

Dahyun grunted in acknowledgement as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “Cool, does that mean we’re heading out soon?”

“Yeah, Chaeng went to check on the decryption progress. Last I hear, they cracked the security but they’re still scanning for any surprises.”

“Alright, we should get ready to go. Probably a good idea to take something other than the van this time.” Dahyun glanced over the vehicles in the garage as she said so.

Dahyun jumped suddenly, startled by Sana’s yell as she caught the end of their conversation.

“THANK GOD, SOMETHING WITH SEATBELTS THIS TIME!”

 

//

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3 thanks for reading


	12. monopoly, pizza rolls, and a side of vengeance (Ryo of the East, part 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Intent on finally closing this dark chapter of their past, Jeongyeon and Nayeon lead the group in laying siege on Ryo's compound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, how's it going lol another update before the holidays. I'm working on the fifth chapter right now, but idk when it'll be out 
> 
> quick note; i'm gonna put a trigger warning for this chapter, just to play it safe. This chapter does have a lot of gun shooting scenes and some other violent stuff. 
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: STRANGULATION, GUN VIOLENCE  
> If you want to skip it, the scene mentioning the strangling starts with "Ryo was not meet..." and it ends at "The two groups stood still and shocked..."

04-3

//

 

Jeongyeon was in the room next to the kitchen. It looked like a dining room of some sort. Or it _was_ a dining room, until she stormed in and claimed it as her ‘armory’.

Ever since she got back with DubChaeng from District 89, she had been prepping the weapons for use, making sure that the equipment was in working order and ready to go at a moment’s notice.

She took the liberty of placing all the equipment on what used to be the large dining table. It was more like a _really long_ workbench now, with all the tools and bottles of oil scattered about. A crate of medical supplies sat at the end of the table. She didn’t know what would happen later but she learned that it never hurt to be over-prepared.

Her laptop was on the table to her left, open and streaming data like always. It had been a while since she hacked into the traffic grid. She kept track of the girls’ location and realized that they were at The Pit. The radio silence was a necessary precaution but at least she knew that they were waiting it out at a safe place.

 

Jeongyeon put the gun in her hand down onto the table. She grabbed a bottle of cleaning oil and reapplied the lubricant to a cleaning cloth. With the cloth in hand, Jeongyeon went back to polishing a pair of handguns.

Jihyo had left her to her methods, knowing that this prepping was Jeongyeon’s way of coping with the stress of Ryo’s return. Hell, she even bought Jeongyeon a new set of super cleaning gun oil. The one that was on her Amazon wish list!

Jeongyeon made a mental note to properly thank Jihyo later.

 

Her gun polishing was cut short at the sound of the front door opening. Footsteps stomped the ground, signaling several people stepping inside. Her laptop let out a beep, grabbing her attention.

A message had arrived from Jennie : _Hey Boss, we’re done with the preparations. Let me know when you want us to suit up._

Jeongyeon sent a response at the same time Nayeon stepped into the room. Nayeon took a look over the room before approaching Jeongyeon and placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, we got the data from the office location. Wanna crack it open?”

Jeongyeon placed the items in her hands down. “Sure. How was the trip?”

“Oh, you know, nothing interesting… other than Chaeng’s driving.” Nayeon shuddered at the memory.

Jeongyeon let out a bark of laughter, “Yikes! That bad?”

“I’d rather not remember it again.” Nayeon made an unpleasant face as she put a couple of hard drives onto the table.

Jeongyeon cracked her knuckles before getting to work. She opened up the drives and began scouring through the files. “You might want to pull up a chair. This is _a lot_ of data.”

 

/

 

“Ayyeee I got a ‘Get Out of Jail’ card!”

“Pay up bitches, you all landed on my property!”

“Pass the pizza rolls please.”

“Wait! I don’t have any money left!”

 

Jihyo _really_ regretted joining this game of monopoly.

 

_Now_ she remembered why she stayed away from this particular board game. There was never really an end to the game and things always took a crazy turn after a certain amount of time passed. Add that to the fact that these players were people who could _actually_ go to jail. It was just overkill at this point.

(She remembered when Nayeon, Jeongyeon, and their team played monopoly for one of their game nights. It had ended with Rose losing her shit and rage flipping the board after she kept landing on the others’ properties. Jihyo never thought she’d see the day Rose would snap. And all because of a _board game._ )

Jihyo had her head in her hands as Momo and Sana bickered over the amount of money Momo had to pay Sana. Mina was content with watching the two argue while she munched on her pizza rolls.

“Why do I have to cough up so much money?!”

“It’s not my fault _you_ landed on _my_ property!”

“But it practically _is_ ! You literally own this _whole side_ of the board!”

“H-Hey guys, why don’t we just play another game?” Jihyo tried to placate the two but they didn’t hear her. Or they chose not to.

Mina offered Jihyo her bowl of pizza rolls. “Don’t worry about it. They’re always like this.” She flashed a nonchalant smile. “They really don’t mean anything by it.”

Jihyo sighed softly, “Well, that’s good to hear.”

She ended up taking some pizza rolls.

 

“Yo!” Chaeyoung and Dahyun busted into the room wearing shades and making exaggerated poses. “We come bearing gifts!”

Tzuyu walked in behind them carrying pizza boxes. She smiled and chuckled at their dramatic entrance. “They just mean pizza.”

“Which is a _gift_!” Dahyun took off her shades in a flashy manner, knitted her eyebrows together and made a gesture suggesting ‘don’t-you-know’.

“Yeah man. RESPECT THE PIE!” Chaeyoung made such an expressive facial expression, Jihyo didn’t know whether to be concerned for her face or impressed that she could even do that with her facial muscles.

Tzuyu placed the pizza boxes on the table and everyone took a slice, forgetting about the board game.

Nayeon and Jeongyeon came into the room from the makeshift armory. Nayeon was about to say something but got distracted by the pizza.

“Hey, the data is—ooo pizza!” 

Jeongyeon shook her head fondly but she grabbed a slice too. “Anyways. What Nabongs was trying to say was, we found some pretty interesting things in those files. One of them being Ryo’s hideout.”

She pulled out a blueprint and laid it on the table. Jihyo took the opportunity to clear the Monopoly game board ~~and chuck it into a fire~~. The blueprint showed a diagram of a mansion built in a neoclassical architecture style. It was quite large, with two floors and a spacious rooftop. Nayeon pulled out several satellite captured images of the home, giving them a little visual aid.

“For someone so hard to find, he sure is flashy.” Jihyo snorted at the wealthy design of the home.

 

“Here’s the plan.” Jeongyeon pointed to the front gate at the mansion’s border. “We’ll use the van to ram into the gates. From there, it’ll be a full frontal assault till we reach the mansion doors.” She trailed her finger from the gate entrance to the mansion’s doorstep.

“Chaeng, Dubu, I need you guys to reinforce the front of that van. Something strong enough to get through steel gates.” Chaeyoung and Dahyun nodded in understanding.

“Expect heavy security. BLACKPINK scouted the area and it looks like there are guards posted throughout the residence.” She tapped the roof and then one of the images that showed the driveway. “There are a few guards on the roof, so watch out for snipers. Thankfully, there’s plenty of brick coverings in the driveway. Stick to cover and you’ll be fine.”

“Once we reach the doors, we’ll enter the foyer in pairs. The other five will enter through the windows on any side of the house. That way, there’s no chance of escape.” Her hand tapped all three sides of the house.

“From there, wipe out any resistance. We’ll comb through the house until we find Ryo.”

 

Jeongyeon looked at Dahyun and Chaeyoung for the next part. “Girls, you’ll need to come up with an escape plan for all of us. That includes teams BP and RV.”

“We’ll get on it.” The two nodded, escape plans already being drafted in their heads.

“Alright then, we’ll head out as soon as night falls. Which is in a couple of hours.” Jeongyeon looked around in case she forgot to cover something. “Weapons and equipment are all ready for you in the nearby room.”

The briefing ended as the girls got up and scattered, each doing their own rituals and what not before the upcoming siege.

 

/

 

Nightfall found the girls in various states of prep.

Jihyo was helping Nayeon strap in her bulletproof vest. Jeongyeon was at the weapons table, loading a magazine clip into her USP Pistol. After strapping the pistol into her thigh holster, she began loading shotgun shells into her Benelli M3 Super 90 Shorty.

Dahyun and Chaeyoung were over in a corner of the room, both of them speaking into a phone. It appeared to be a conference call as Irene and Jisoo were on the other end of the phone.

“...and that’s the plan.”

“Is that cool, unnies?”

 

Tzuyu was standing across from Jeongyeon, loading some .30 carbine rounds into her AMT Automag III pistol. After she was holstered the gun, Tzuyu started putting some small ammo boxes into her pouch that was strapped to her waist. When she opened it, the contents were revealed to be various ammunition and some medical supplies.

Mina sat on an ammo crate that was stacked by the wall. She was polishing her pair of Desert Eagle pistols. They were both Magnum Research Mark XIX. One of them was gold-plated and the other a polished chrome finish. She was all ready to go; she was polishing her guns as she waited for the others.

 

Momo sat on the couch in the living room. She didn’t bother bringing her usual weapon; a Ruger Mk III with a custom suppressor. As it was suited for more stealthy missions, Momo didn’t see the need to bring it. Instead, she grabbed one of the shotguns that Jeongyeon had supplied.

Sana sat next to her, sitting still as Momo adjusted the straps of her dual pistol shoulder holsters. The holsters held Sana’s firearms, two hard chrome Bren Ten dual pistols.

“There. How’s that?”

“Perfect! Thanks Momo.”

“Hey... when we’re in there, make sure you check that all your enemies are down before you reload, ok?”

Sana was about to make her usual cheeky retort but stopped when she turned around and saw Momo’s concerned face. Usually, they made jokes before missions all the time but she guessed the mention of heavy security from earlier made Momo worry.

“Ok.” Sana cupped Momo’s cheeks in her hands as she said so. She proceeded to softly squish Momo’s face until a smile formed on her face.

 

“Alright people, our ride’s here. Time to move out!” Jeongyeon announced as she slung her shotgun strap over her shoulder. Her face was set in grim determination as she marched to the driveway, the girls grabbed their things and followed after her.

 

//

 

Chaeyoung was manning the steering wheel once again, Dahyun beside her in the passenger seat as usual. This time, the back of the van had actual seats with actual seatbelts!

As Chaeyoung drove the team towards the location of Ryo’s hideout, Jeongyeon and Nayeon went over the plan one last time.

“Remember to stick to cover. And one last thing, always stay in teams of two or more when you’re inside the house. Who knows what kind of traps the coward has set up.”

“One more thing.” Nayeon chimed in after Jeongyeon finished. “Teams BP and RV will be our covering fire from the north and south sides of the house. They staked out a vantage point across the street from the mansion so don’t be alarmed if an enemy goes down in front of you or if you hear sniper gunshots.”

 

Jeongyeon spoke into her communicator after the refresher on the plan. “We’re nearing the location. How’s the situation on your end?”

_“20/20 on the North end.”_ Irene spoke into her communicator as she scanned the enemy grounds through the scope of her AMR-2 heavy sniper rifle. Wendy was standing guard over Irene’s prone figure, her Armscor M30SAS pump-action shotgun ready in hand.

_“Vision’s clear on the South. Ready when you are.”_  Jisoo relayed as she did the same with her Accuracy International AW50 sniper rifle. Lisa was Jisoo’s lookout, her MAC-11 submachine gun hanging off her waist holster as she kept an eye over the rooftop they were both on. She spoke into her com, her words meant for Jeongyeon and Nayeon especially, “Get him good for me, unnies. We’ll pop him if he tries to make a run for it.”

“Of course. I have no doubt you will.” Jeongyeon managed to grin at Lisa’s words.

“Drivers, are you ready?”

A chorus of yes’s rang out through everyone’s coms as Seulgi, Jennie, Joy, and Yeri replied.

 

“Ok! Here we go people!” Chaeyoung shouted as the gates of the mansion came into view.

They started to get closer and closer until...BAM!

The van slammed straight through the gates and skidded to a stop. The front bumper was still intact, DubChaeng had installed a massive and gnarly steel bumper that resembled the front of a derby demolition car.

“Everybody out!” Chaeyoung shouted as gunshots were fired, the bullets hitting the side of the van. The girls exited the van and took cover on one of its side. Taking their firearms out, they began returning fire.

An exchange of hostile shouting and gunshots filled the air.

Irene and Jisoo picked off guards that were too close to the girls. One by one, the enemies started dropping like flies. As the group slowly began to move up the long driveway, Seulgi and Joy each drove a black and tinted SUV to the North and South sides of the mansion respectively. They maneuvered the vehicles so that it blocked the only way in/out of the residence.

Yeri stepped out of the passenger seat of Joy’s vehicle and fired at a guard who had his back turned to her. She spoke into her com as he crumpled to the ground, “Exits are secured. We’ll maintain our position out here.”

Seulgi and Jennie did the same, standing guard at the North end of the compound.

 

After enduring the waves of footsoldiers, they were able to gain ground using the brick coverings, like Jeongyeon suggested.

The girls were steadily approaching the front steps of the mansion, a couple of guards were still standing. Jeongyeon popped out of cover and fired a shot before ducking back down. Three guards left, hiding behind the pillars of the house. She kept her fire on them as she saw Momo and Jihyo sneak to the side of the house. As the guard peeked out of cover, he was gunned down by the flanking maneuver.

“Into the house! Spread out!”

The girls scattered to surround the residence before smashing their way in. Jeongyeon was paired with Nayeon, followed by Jihyo and Momo behind them. She blasted the door’s lock and kicked down the front door. The pairs entered the foyer at the same time glass shattered from the windows on all sides of the house. Gunshots were heard immediately as chaos erupted inside.

It was swarming with guards inside the house. As it was a two-story house, the girls were at a disadvantage on the first floor. Slowly, the number of enemies began to lower as the girls stuck to cover and picked their shots.

Irene and Jisoo helped keep the heat off of the girls by taking down anyone who tried to sneak an attack. With limited vision of course, because they could only see part of the house through the windows. Seulgi, Jennie, Yeri and Joy took care of any gang member that were still outside.

 

“Move in and regroup!” Jeongyeon called out as she took out the guard that popped up from behind a toppled over table.

The girls managed to regroup in the main area of the house, it looked like a really big ballroom. The ceiling was glass and the décor matched the neoclassical architecture. The furniture was overturned as they were used as cover from the gunfire.

Somehow, it turned out to be all of the enemies on one side and the girls on the other end of the room. The two groups exchanged fire from their makeshift cover.

The girls were in the thick of the gunfight when Jeongyeon spotted a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye. Up on the second floor was Ryo. She gritted her teeth as she hissed out his name. Nayeon and Mina who were next to her heard her displeasure, the two looked up at where he was. Mina shouted over the loud gunfire, “You two get up there! We’ll cover you!”

She and Nayeon nodded as they began transitioning through the cover and over to the staircase. The two ducked shots and quickly moved in a crouch up the stairs until they were out of view from the guards on the first floor.

 

Ryo saw them approaching, a hard glint settled in his eyes as he slowly sauntered into a nearby room. It was like he was baiting them inside. They didn’t really have a choice and they weren’t going to let him escape again. After running into the room he was in, Nayeon and Jeongyeon came face to face with Ryo.

“Well, well, well. Who do we have here?” Ryo began in a mocking tone. “A bunch of cowards by the look of it.” The scar that Jeongyeon gave him rippled as he sneered, making him look even angrier.

“Talk all you want. You’re the coward here.” Nayeon spat out as she holstered her weapon.

“I’m going to enjoy beating the shit out of you, you backstabbing snake!”

 

And with that, Jeongyeon charged at Ryo. The rage she was feeling seemed to empower her hits. She managed to land the first hit on Ryo, striking him right across the face. Ryo retaliated with a punch of his own.

Jeongyeon’s head was thrown back from the hit. Nayeon came forward and dealt a blow.

She kicked her foot out and struck Ryo’s side. Ryo managed to use his arms to block the kick but that left his upper body wide open. Nayeon quickly landed a series of fast punches to his chest and face. Under the assault, Ryo swung his arms out to disrupt the attack. Nayeon drew back to avoid the heavy swings.

As Ryo was recovering from the assault, Jeongyeon launched herself forward with a knee attack aimed at his chest. The strike connected and Ryo fell backwards with Jeongyeon on top of him. Straddling his chest, Jeongyeon delivered blow after blow to Ryo’s face.

Ryo took each hit with a grunt of pain. He reached out and grabbed her arm to stop the punches. At the same time, he exerted a good amount of force to kick her off of him. Jeongyeon’s breath was knocked out of her as she awkwardly landed on some furniture.

 

Ryo got to his feet and spat out some blood that Jeongyeon managed to draw from him. He locked eyes with Nayeon and the two charged at the same time. Nayeon tried to go for a running kick but Ryo caught her leg in time. Using her momentum, he swung her around and threw her. She landed with a pained shout.

Jeongyeon came running just as Ryo threw Nayeon. Catching him by surprise, she managed to land a punch. Ryo recovered quickly and swung his fist at her. Jeongyeon ducked down and countered with a hard left-right punch sequence.

Ryo staggered back and Jeongyeon quickly took the chance to perform a spinning back kick. The kick connected with his jaw, a brutal smack ringing out. Ryo flew back from the impact, a loud groan of pain came from him as he hit the floor.

He got back up again with a heavy groan, spitting out more blood before charging back into the fight.

 

Nayeon and Jeongyeon continued to tag-team Ryo, the two cycling their timing of attacks. When Jeongyeon was attacking, Nayeon drew back. When Nayeon advanced, it was Jeongyeon who retreated. They kept Ryo on his toes with this strategy.

After a while, Ryo managed to spot the pattern and came up with a counter strike. Just as Jeongyeon drew back and Nayeon came forward, Ryo grabbed a knife that was laying on the nearby table.

As Nayeon’s arm stretched out in a punch, Ryo dodged it and stabbed the knife into her shoulder.

“AHHHHH!”

Nayeon let out a painful scream as the knife punctured her flesh. She kicked him square in the chest and quickly backed away. Jeongyeon turned to Nayeon immediately and tried to help.

 

Being launched backwards, Ryo made use of Jeongyeon’s distractedness and tried to escape. He fled the room and into the hallway where he climbed the stairs up to the rooftop.

Nayeon managed to catch sight of him despite her pain. As Jeongyeon fretted over her injury, she quickly told her, “Go after him! I’ll be fine.” She winced but continued, “We can’t let him escape _again_. Go!”

Jeongyeon hesitated but ultimately listened to Nayeon. She knew Nayeon was right. It had been years since the incident and Ryo’s double-cross. Who knew when and where he would surface again if they let him escape tonight?

She ran out the room and chased after him, hoping her hesitance hadn’t let Ryo get away. Following the trail up the stairs, Jeongyeon found herself on the rooftop. It was plain except for a little garden area and the glass that covered half of the roof’s floor.

There was no exit in sight; the stairs were the only way down and Jeongyeon was standing right in front of it.

 

Ryo had cornered himself.

He looked left and right for a possible escape route but there was none. Jeongyeon approached him slowly as Ryo turned around to face her, panic slowly seeping into his face before he composed himself.

Putting on a false air, Ryo tried to weasel his way out. “Shouldn’t you be taking care of your girlie? She might bleed out from that knife I stuck in her.”

Nayeon’s injury came to her mind and it only fueled her rage. “This whole thing... all those years until now, it ends tonight!” Jeongyeon snarled before stalking towards Ryo.

The two of them pulled their fists up as the distance between them shrunk.

 

Ryo swung his fist and missed. Jeongyeon had dodged to the side of him and struck his ribs in consecutive punches. He grunted in pain with each hit before shoving her away.

Ryo charged at her, slamming his shoulder right into her chest. She fell onto her back and he stomped his foot down. Jeongyeon rolled out of the way just in the nick of time, his foot landed where her head was previously.

Getting to her feet, she ran at Ryo and attacked with a knee kick to his gut. Ryo staggered and bent over, hands on his stomach. Jeongyeon grabbed a potted plant from the rooftop garden and slammed it down over his head. The pot shattered and Ryo crumpled onto the glass floor with a sharp cry of pain.

 

Jeongyeon shifted her eyes around the rooftop, trying to find _anything_ else she could use. Spotting a garden hose that was mounted to the wall, she quickly grabbed it and dragged it back to Ryo’s fallen figure.

While he was still disorientated and on his stomach, Jeongyeon wrapped the thick hose around his neck and tied it. It wasn’t tight enough to suffocate him but tight enough to not fall off and prevent his escape.

Ryo became alarmed when the hose started to wrap around his neck, he tried to claw it off but Jeongyeon was too quick and he was still stunned from the potted plant smash.

Jeongyeon roughly flipped Ryo onto his back, straddled him and grabbed his shirt with both of her hands. Ryo squirmed and struggled to escape but Jeongyeon slammed him into the floor. She felt no remorse for him, her strength and anger was growing with each slam.

“This, is for double-crossing us!”

Another slam. The sound of Ryo’s head making contact with the glass floor reverberated across the material.

“This, is for my team!”

Another slam. Another brutal smacking sound.

“This, is for leaking Jihyo’s location!”

Another slam. Ryo let out a painful moan. Spider-web cracks began to form on the glass.

“This, is for putting a bullet in Lisa’s leg!”

Another slam. The cracks began to spread, getting bigger and bigger.

Jeongyeon and Ryo clearly heard it this time. It was similar to when ice cracked as it melted, except this sounded _louder_. Ryo began to panic and squirm even harder against Jeongyeon’s hold. Jeongyeon’s eyes grew dark, the fire inside her turning into a raging inferno. All she had in mind was ending this whole messy affair.

She lifted Ryo up again and held him there for a moment, reminders of the past flashed through her mind’s eye. Ryo started shaking his head, whimpering out No’s repeatedly.

“ _And_ THIS! IS FOR STABBING NAYEON!”

As the name left her mouth, Jeongyeon slammed Ryo down.

All of the pressure on the glass was building and that final slam was the last straw. The glass shattered the moment Ryo’s body made contact and the two of them fell down through the ceiling.

 

The two groups were still shooting at each other in the main area of the house. The number of guards dwindled significantly in the time that Nayeon and Jeongyeon made their way upstairs.

“How many of them are there?!” Sana shouted as she ducked back into cover. A gunshot chipped the side of the table where she was behind.

“I don’t know!” Chaeyoung popped up to fire at the other side, managing to take down a guard. “But it’s like we take one down and another one pops right up!”

The sound of shattering glass caught the attention of both groups, halting the spray of gunfire.

 

Glass rained down as two bodies fell in the middle of the room. Jeongyeon stuck her hands out to brace as she landed on the floor, her palms were scrapped from the glass but she was fine, other than being winded from the impact of the fall.

Ryo was not meet with the same kind fate.

The garden hose that was tied around his neck was still attached to its base that was mounted on the rooftop wall. It held sturdy even as Ryo’s weight dragged it down. The hose held tight as Ryo dangled in mid-air, cutting off his oxygen supply. He twisted his body and frantically tried to unravel the hose but it was no use. Slowly, his squirming turned sluggish and eventually his body stopped responding.

 

The two groups stood still and shocked at the turn of events. Jihyo noticed Jeongyeon on the floor and quickly pulled her away, her figure was right in the middle of the crossfire if she continued to lay where she was.

“Quick! Shoot while they’re distracted!”

The girls snapped out of the morbid shock and fired at the remaining guards. They stood no chance against the combined effort and the shock of their boss’s demise. Within seconds, the remaining faction of the East Bridge Guardian of the Masked Oni gang ceased to exist.

 

A grunt came from the second floor, prompting everyone to collectively cock their weapons and turn their aim at the source of the sound. It was Nayeon, leaning on the railing with her good arm. With a cheeky grin and an uncomfortable wince, she pointed to the knife still sticking out of her shoulder.

“Anyone know how to handle a stab wound?”

 

/

 

Nayeon was sitting still, trying not to move as Tzuyu bandaged her shoulder. Good thing Tzuyu knew what to do with stab injuries.

Tzuyu wrapped the bandages before tying a knot. “There. Is it too tight?”

“No, it’s fine. Thanks Tzu.” Nayeon smiled, grateful for her help.

Tzuyu nodded in return before looking over at Jeongyeon sitting next to them. “What about you? Need anything?”

Jeongyeon shook her head lightly. “I’m fine. Just bruised and battered.”

“Ok. I’m going to check your hands anyways.” Tzuyu carefully took Jeongyeon’s hands into hers. “You landed on the glass pretty hard.” She pulled a pair of tweezers out of her pouch and began picking the small glass pieces out of her hand. “Nayeon, can you get the alcohol ready? Better safe than sorry.”

“Sure.” Nayeon grabbed the sterilizer Tzuyu had used earlier on her shoulder.

 

Jihyo walked over to the three. “Hey. How are you guys doing?” Concern could be heard in her voice but her face remained calm.

Jeongyeon looked up and replied, “We’re good, thanks to Tzuyu. How’s the search going?”

Jihyo took a more relaxed stance. “All enemies down, that’s for sure. We took down his body… it was creepy to have it just up there.” She grimaced at the visual reminder before continuing. “The others are looking around the house for anything Ryo left behind. It’s hidden pretty well, the girls haven’t found anything yet.”

Nayeon snorted, “Knowing him, he probably booby trapped the place. Watch out for anything funny.”

“Have the others reported—ssssh!” Jeongyeon asked before hissing in surprise. Tzuyu had poured the alcohol over her palms when she wasn’t looking. Tzuyu cheekily smiled while wrapping her palms with bandages.

“Yeah. Irene, Wendy, Jisoo, and Lisa regrouped with the others by the SUVs. I think Lisa and Yeri went to go take a look at the house’s breaker box. They said something about an escape plan.”

Nayeon had a curious look on her face, “It’s probably one of Chaeng’s elaborate plans.”

“I’ll check up on the others. You two stay here, coms are still on so just call if anything comes up.”

 

/

 

A book flew across the room. It landed with a thump. Another book took flight before landing next to it.

Dahyun was grabbing books from the bookshelf and tossing them like nothing.

“You sure there’s something behind here?”

Chaeyoung was doing the same to the bookcase next to her. “Yeah! When I leaned on the wall earlier, there was a weird sound. It sounded hollow compared to the rest of the walls.”

Several more books flew. Jihyo walked into the room just as a book flew by her head. She ducked just in time. “ _What_ are you guys doing?”

“Oh! Unnie! Chaeng thinks there’s some sort of secret cache behind the wall here.” Dahyun answered without looking back, still engrossed in tossing books left and right.

“That’s sorta cliché, isn’t it?” Jihyo chuckled as she joined Dahyun in removing the books.

 

Chaeyoung grabbed a big book but it didn’t budge. It sorta leaned out halfway before clicking into place.

“ _A-ha_! I knew it!”

Chaeyoung grunted as she tried to move the bookcase. “Come help me move this thing.”

Dahyun and Jihyo came over and began pulling on the bookcase. It slowly swung outwards, revealing a hidden study.

Before they could enter, Chaeyoung stopped them. She pulled out her Swiss-Army pocket knife and crouched, taking cover behind the wall. From where she was, Chaeyoung could see the glinting metal of tripwire.

“You guys might wanna take a step back.” Chaeyoung reached out and trigger the tripwire with her knife.

A snap and a click rang out and a morningstar flailed out. Its metal chain rattled as it swung from above the entrance. From its position, it could have done some serious damage to someone’s chest and neck area.

“ _Wow_. You were right Jihyo unnie, that really is cliche.” Dahyun said as she stared at the booby trap.

 

Chaeyoung drew her pistol, prompting Dahyun and Jihyo to do the same. “Watch my back, ya never know what’s in there.”

The three ducked under the now-still morningstar, firearms drawn and aimed in front of them. After inspecting the study, they didn’t find any one inside.

“Clear. Let’s see what we have here.”

Putting their sidearms away, the trio started looking through the contents of the room, eyes out for anything out of the ordinary.

“Jeongyeon unnie said the guy was a hacker and a blackmailer. His stash should be _somewhere_ in this house.”

Chaeyoung whistled a cheerful melody as the they rifled through the room.

 

/

 

Sana, Momo, and Mina were in the upstairs office. They were also looking for any material that might be of use to them.

The office had a computer desk and several cabinets along the wall. Other than that, it was pretty sparse. Sana occupied the desk chair as she looked through the computer.

Mina was searching through the cabinets while Momo was eyeing the framed paintings on the walls. She had a questioning look as her eyes flitted over the art.

“Hey… does this look... _weird_ to you guys?”

Momo asked as she came closer to the painting for a better look. She traced the edge of the frame. Black marks surrounded the painting, as if it were recently moved. Momo rubbed a part of the markings.

“Looks like drag marks…” She mumbled, rubbing it off her fingers.

She moved towards the painting with the intention of removing it.

“Let’s see what you’re hiding behind you.”

Her arms reached out and grabbed the edge of the frame before hefting it up and leaning it against the wall. Behind the painting was a small safe built into the wall.

“Bingo!”

 

Momo’s exclamation caught Mina’s attention. “Nice job. Need help with cracking it?”

“Hmm, maybe…”

Momo tilted her head, trying to figure how to open the safe. “Worth a try.” She shrugged before slipping the combat knife out of her holster. She used the knife to try and physically pry the combination knob off. It took awhile but eventually, Momo broke the knob open with a heavy grunt.

Sliding her knife back into her holster, Momo grabbed the knob and wiggled it back and forth until it came loose. Now with a hole in its front, she reached her hand inside and tried to unlock the locking mechanism. A click was heard and Momo removed her hand before swinging the safe open.

“Well. Didn’t expect _that_.”

Momo and Mina looked into the safe. Several fat stacks of cash sat inside, along with a USB drive. Mina handed the cash to Momo before grabbing the drive.

“I’ll let you decide what to do with the cash.” Mina told Momo before turning to Sana. “Sana, check what’s on this drive. It must be important enough to lock it in a safe.”

 

Mina tossed the drive to Sana, who caught it and plugged it in. The drive files took a while to pop up. After a while, it loaded and she began divulging the information.

“I think this is what we were looking for. These files contain a lot of blackmail material… wow, this is some pretty heavy stuff.” She looked up at Mina, “What should we do with it?”

Mina contemplated before answering. “Make a separate copy using a USB drive of your own. Who knows what kind of security he placed in that one. We’ll keep the information for now, it’s a good bargaining chip. Make sure Jeongyeon and Nayeon get a good look at it. They could probably come up with something useful.”

She nodded firmly, “We’ll head back down once you’re done copying the files.”

 

/

 

“...and if we connect that wire here, it would connect _all_ the rooms.”

“Ooh, good thinking! Then we could play it off like an electrical failure!”

“Exactly!”

Lisa high-fived Yeri as the two stood facing the breaker box, which was located behind the house.

_“Yeri, Lisa, where are you guys?”_ Jeongyeon’s voice came over the coms.

“We’re behind the house unnie. Working on Chaeng’s escape plan.” Yeri replied as Lisa took out a microscopic chip and installed it amidst the electrical wires. She clicked it and it began beeping and blinking red.

_“Escape plan? Should we head out now? We’re all by the cars.”_

“You guys should probably get in.” Lisa snickered before continuing. “We should be far away from this place as soon as possible.”

_“Wha—I’m not gonna even ask. Everybody! We’re moving out. Chaeng, I’ll let you take over.”_

 

_“Roger!”_

Chaeyoung’s voice was now speaking through the coms. _“Alright peeps! Remember the plan I told you. Irene unnie, Jisoo unnie, take the wheel and follow the route I sent you earlier. Lisa unnie, Yeri, do your thing!”_

Lisa and Yeri rearranged the electrical wiring inside the box and the device started beeping faster. Soon, sparks began flying and the two jumped backwards.

“IT’S READY! LET’S GO!” Lisa shrieked excitedly, slamming the doors of the breaker box close and grabbing Yeri’s arm, leading her away and towards the North exit. The two piled into the SUV and Yeri shouted to Irene and into her com, “DRIVE UNNIES!”

 

The breaker box started sparking electricity even more now until the power in the house went out and smoke started rising.

Everybody kept their eyes on the house windows, where orange flickering could be seen. The fire caught onto the over-strewn furniture and all the books that Dahyun and Chaeyoung had scattered on the floor. The fire spread to the other rooms soon after, connected by the antique rugs covering the floor.

The device that Lisa installed rapidly beeped until it exploded, overloading the breaker box and sending electric currents everywhere. The shockwaves short-circuited the house and increased the amount of flames. The fire grew bigger and bigger and now the house was up in flames.

 

The vehicles pulled into the streets and got further and further away. Chaeyoung spoke into the coms as the three vehicles continued traveling. _“OK ladies! We’re splitting up to throw our trail off. We already wiped the cameras. Anybody investigating will think an electrical fire broke out because of how old the place is. The fire will wipe all evidence of a gang fight, including the bodies, thanks to Lisa’s overloading device.”_

Dahyun chimed in after Chaeyoung finished. _“Meet back at The Pit by the docks when you think the coast is clear.”_

Irene continued driving the SUV away from the mansion. After a couple of traffic lights, firetrucks and police cars passed them, heading into the direction they were previously at. She knew it was too late, the fire was already intense when they left.

Yeri opened up her laptop, Lisa leaned on her shoulder to take a look. She tapped on the keyboard, bringing up the locations of the other vehicles. The blips on the map showed three dots moving away from the location of the mansion. The blips took different routes, swerving and weaving in and out of roads on the map.

“Well, that was pretty fun!” Lisa and Yeri giggled together, the pyromaniacs. The other girls in the car either laughed along or shook their heads fondly at the two.

 

//

 

The three vehicles meet back up at DubChaeng’s warehouse after laying low for thirty or so minutes. Everybody piled out of the cars once they were driven inside and parked.

“Well, what now?” Nayeon asked. Mina looked around the warehouse interior before giving out orders.

“First, let’s unload everything we took from the mansion. They had a good amount of supplies. We could split that up amongst our three bases.”

“And this cash!” Momo pulled out the stacks of cash she took from the safe earlier. ( _You_ get a fat stack of cash! And _you_ get a stack! _And you_ get a stack!) She distributed it evenly into three piles. With a grin, she added, “Consider this bonus hazard pay haha!”

Some of the girls began unloading the boxes of supplies from the back of the vehicles.

“Sana, pull up that USB drive and show the others.”

Sana nodded before pulling Jeongyeon, Nayeon, Lisa, and Yeri to a nearby computer. “C’mon guys! You won’t _believe_ the amount of blackmail on this tiny USB drive!”

Mina took another look around at the remaining members. “The rest of you, you guys can either help the others or take a breather. You all deserve it.” She ended with that, showing her appreciation for their assistance.

Some members helped with the unloading, some slumped onto the furniture, but everyone relaxed and stored away their weapons now that the threat was over.

 

Mina walked over to the vehicles. The trunks were open and being unloaded. She took a box and moved it over to where the others were. She stacked it on top of another box, right next to one of the garage workbenches.

As Mina stood up, Jihyo and Dahyun came over to her.

“Hey Boss!” Dahyun started off cheery as always. “We found something when we were in the mansion. You might want to take a look at this.”

In the hands of Dahyun and Jihyo were stacks of papers and a business card. Jihyo handed some to Mina. “There are locations marked on all of the papers. Some are related to businesses, some to military. But they’re all related to top secret technology and weaponry.”

“And get this!” Dahyun flashed the card they found in the hidden study. Another black business card. “It’s got the seal of the West Bridge Guardian. The _same_ seal that’s on _all_ these papers.”

Mina looked through the papers, confirming what the two said. She deliberated on the next course of action. All three teams just took on the East Bridge Guardian. They were in no condition to jump headlong into the next battle so soon.

“Hmm. You know what, it’s been a long week.” She gathered all the papers together. “Let’s worry about this tomorrow. For now, let’s relax.”

Dahyun perked up, “I’m glad you said so! Irene unnie and Wendy unnie are preparing a feast for the 18 of us!” She pointed her thumb towards the kitchen where a delicious smell started wafting out.

Jihyo’s stomach growled as she sniffed the air. The two giggled at the sound. Jihyo laughed and said, “Yeah, I could eat.”

 

//

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk how safes work so i just winged it with Momo's part lmao
> 
> please have a safe and happy holiday! :)


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